SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters)-Intel Corp on Tuesday posted a lower quarterly net profit and reported revenue that was slightly ahead of expectations in the face of a weakening U.S. economy, and its shares rose 5.5 percent.
The world’s largest maker of semiconductors said first-quarter net income fell to $1.44 billion, or 25 cents per share, from $1.64 billion, or 28 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue rose to $9.67 billion from $8.85 billion.
Intel, one of the big bellwethers for technology, said it expected second-quarter revenue in a range of $9.0 billion to $9.6 billion and a gross margin of 56 percent, plus or minus a couple of points.
Analysts’ current expectations for the current quarter are for a profit of 28 cents a share, on average, on revenue of $9.26 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.
Early last month, Intel cut its first-quarter gross-margin forecast, citing weaker pricing on certain memory chips. Prices in the NAND flash memory-chip market have been under pressure for more than a year now.
Shares of Intel have declined 21 percent this year, compared with a 14 percent decline in the Nasdaq. After the earnings report, Intel stock rose to $22.06. In regular trade, the stock had gained 22 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $20.91.
(Reporting by Duncan Martell; Editing by Braden Reddall)
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