Intel Corp. saw a significant increase in its shares during after-hours trading on Thursday after the chip maker reported a surprise profit. The company's PC and data-center sales performed better than expected, driving the positive outcome.
Financial Results
In the second quarter, Intel's net income reached $1.48 billion, or 35 cents per share, compared to a loss of $454 million, or 11 cents per share, in the same period last year. Adjusted for restructuring charges and other items, the company reported earnings of 13 cents per share, down from 29 cents per share a year ago. Despite the decline, it still exceeded analyst expectations.
Revenue for the quarter decreased to $12.95 billion from $15.32 billion in the previous year. However, adjusted gross margins came in at 39.8%, which was encouraging for the company.
Better-than-Expected Sales
Intel's PC group sales stood at $6.8 billion, while data-center sales reached $4 billion. Network and edge sales amounted to $1.4 billion, and foundry services revenue totaled $232 million for the quarter. These figures defied analysts' projections, who had anticipated a decline in sales across all segments.
Promising Outlook
Looking ahead, Intel forecasted third-quarter earnings of about 20 cents per share on revenue ranging from $12.9 billion to $13.9 billion. The company also expects adjusted gross margins of approximately 43% for the upcoming quarter. Analysts had estimated lower figures, with projected earnings of 16 cents per share on revenue of $13.22 billion.
Intel's positive financial results indicate that the company may be making progress in catching up to competitors like Nvidia and AMD in the field of AI. However, further evidence will be needed to confirm this trend.
Read: Intel may have bottomed, but earnings will show if chip maker can hope to catch up to Nvidia and AMD in AI
