Well, if you waited until after normal Thursday trading to
catch
Intel Corp's
(
INTC
) Q4 earnings report, you missed it. The chip giant and Dow
component generated another positive earnings surprise after the
bell -- er, just before the bell -- by posting EPS of 48 cents
per quarter on $13.53 billion in revenues. Both numbers beat
expectations.
They didn't beat the Zacks Consensus Estimates of 45 cents and
$13.2 billion, respectively, by a heck of a lot, but this is
pretty much besides the point. Not only have we seen Intel lose
out to competitors in the smartphone chipset market over past
quarters, but
Microsoft's
(
MSFT
) Windows 8 failed to give traction to the PC market in the
quarter, which is where Intel remains a leader.
Oh, and don't forget the pre-earnings sentiment that Tech was
going down the tubes. Intel becomes the latest in a growing group
of Tech beats this quarter, which includes
eBay
(
EBAY
) and
Juniper
(
JNPR
) yesterday.
Let's also not lose sight of the fact that Intel has outperformed
for the last 5 quarters in a row -- including Q3's very nice 20%
beat -- by an average of roughly 8%. Not bad for a dinosaur.
The conference call will be starting in a few minutes, assuming
they haven't jumped the gun and started it already, and analysts
will be looking closely at Intel's guidance numbers, as well as
how its Data Center segment has performed relative to its other
businesses. Its plans for gaining share in the mobile market will
obviously be key, as will information pertaining to its new
Haswell platform.
For now, though shares are trading down for INTC in the
after-market, Intel is cresting at YTD-highs, and there may be
more to come if we see positive guidance. For now, Intel shares
have a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) and a corresponding Neutral
recommendation.
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