'Solid' Corporate Demand Drives Intel's Q3 Earnings

Intel on Tuesday reported fiscal third quarter results that surpassed Wall Street's expectations, but not by much.

In its Q3, Intel racked up revenue of $11.1 billion, up 19 percent year-over-year. Its quarterly profit came in at $3 billion, or 52 cents per share, up 59 percent compared to the same period last year. Wall Street analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had anticipated revenue of $11.1 billion and earnings of 50 cents per share.

Intel's Q3 results are within the range the company provided in August when it revised its original forecast downward, citing weak consumer PC demand and fears of a global economic slowdown.

This time around, however, Intel sounded a more upbeat tone. Intel's PC Client Group revenue was up 14 percent year-over-year to $8.1 billion, while Intel's Data Center Group revenue rose 30 percent during the period to $2.2 billion. Sales for both groups rose 3 percent sequentially, Intel said.

"These results were driven by solid demand from corporate customers, sales of our leadership products and continued growth in emerging markets," Intel CEO Paul Otellini said in a statement.

Next: What Intel's Forecasting

However, revenue from Intel Atom processors and chipsets fell four percent sequentially to $396 million.

For its fiscal fourth quarter, Intel expects revenue of between $11 billion to $11.8 billion and gross margin of 65 percent to 69 percent.

It's been a strange year for Intel, which in July was crowing about its best quarterly financial results in the company's 42 year history and a month later found itself dousing its Q3 forecast.

In a Q&A with analysts after the call, Otellini was asked for guidance on when the chipmaker's pending $7.7 billion acquisition of security vendor McAfee will close. Otellini declined to offer specifics beyond, "as early as the end of the year, or into the first quarter."

Intel shares were up $0.19 cents to $19.96 in after hours trading Tuesday evening.