Intel earnings surge 875 percent

From CNET News.com: Intel posted a fourth-quarter net income of $2.3 billion, up 875 percent over the same period last year. Revenue came in at $10.6 billion, up 28 percent year over year.

Earnings per share was 40 cents. The analyst consensus for the fourth quarter called for 30 cents a share on earnings of $10.17 billion. Adjusted income came to 55 cents per share.

Income was about 10 times greater than the $234 million (4 cents per share) that the chipmaker reported in the fourth quarter of 2008.

One of the key financial indicators, gross margin, hit a record 65 percent, Intel said, up 12 points over the same period last year when it was 53 percent.

Revenue for Atom processors and chipsets--which are used widely in Netbooks--shot up 167 percent.

"Our ability to weather this business cycle demonstrates that microprocessors are indispensable in our modern world," said Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO in a statement.

"Our notebook business was exceptional this quarter," Otellini said during the company's earnings conference call. The chip business for server computers was up too. "Servers had a very strong quarter with a shift toward the high end of the server stack," he said.

Looking ahead to the first quarter of 2010, Intel expects revenue to hit $9.7 billion, plus or minus $400 million. The gross margin percentage is forecast to be 61 percent, plus or minus 2 percentage points.

All this despite the fact that Intel has been under a financial strain because of a series hefty payouts. Intel paid a fine of approximately $1.45 billion to the European Union and agreed to pay AMD $1.25 billion to settle an antitrust case in November.

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