Tech industry bellwether Intel has beat expectations thanks to a surge in demand for chips and microprocessors.
Its third-quarter sales of $9.4 billion (€6.3 billion), profit of $1.9 billion and earnings per share of 33 cents were all down from the same period last year, but ahead of industry forecasts.
Analysts had expected earnings of 28 cents a share on revenue of $9 billion.
It also raised its sales guidance for Q4 from $9.7 billion to $10.6 billion.
“Intel’s strong third-quarter results underscore that computing is essential to people’s lives, proving the importance of technology innovation in leading an economic recovery,” CEO Paul Otellini said. “This momentum in the current climate, plus our product leadership, gives us confidence about our business prospects going forward.”
The company said revenue was down 8% over last year, but up from the 26% decline in the previous quarter and up 17% sequentially – the highest in Q3 in 30 years. It had seen “better than expected demand for chips and microprocessors,” while the mobility group had grown 19% sequentially and sales of Atom, the chip used in netbooks, were 15% higher.
Research firm Gartner last week raised its guidance for the semiconductor sector, but warned that inventories remained overstocked.