San Francisco, July 16: Intel Corp. on Tuesday posted second-quarter earnings that doubled from a year earlier on stronger sales of its microprocessors for desktop personal computers and laptops and overall revenue that edged past its forecast. The world`s largest semiconductor maker, which is watched as a bellwether for broader technology spending, projected current quarter sales in line with Wall Street expectations but said margins would improve even without signs of an upturn in corporate demand.
For the third quarter, Intel forecast revenue of $6.9 billion to $7.5 billion, with a mid-point of $7.2 billion. That range follows the 10-year historical average revenue growth between the second and third quarters, said Andy Bryant, Intel`s chief financial officer.
But in a forecast that surprised some analysts, Intel projected better profit margins for the third quarter and the rest of the year on higher sales and lower production costs.
For the second-quarter, Santa Clara, California-based Intel posted net income of $896 million, or 14 cents a share, up from $446 million, or 7 cents per share, a year ago. Revenue was $6.82 billion compared with $6.32 billion a year earlier. Bureau Report