Intel stock rose Friday after the chipmaker beat Wall Street's targets for the first quarter but offered a mixed outlook for the second quarter.
The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company late Thursday said it lost an adjusted 4 cents a share on sales of $11.72 billion in the March quarter. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected Intel to lose 16 cents a share on sales of $11.01 billion. In the year-earlier period, Intel earned 87 cents a share on sales of $18.35 billion.
For the current quarter, Intel forecast an adjusted loss of 4 cents a share on sales of $12 billion, based on the midpoint of its outlook. Wall Street had been expecting Intel to break even on sales of $11.74 billion in the second quarter.
"While we remain cautious on the macroeconomic outlook, we are focused on what we can control," Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger said in a news release. That includes reaching new product and manufacturing milestones, he said.
Intel Stock Rises After Report
On the stock market today, Intel stock climbed 4% to close at 31.06. During the regular session Thursday, Intel stock rose 2.8% to close at 29.86.
Intel's Client Computing Group saw sales decline 38% year over year to $5.8 billion in Q1 amid continued weak PC sales.
Meanwhile, sales in the company's Data Center and AI unit decreased 39% to $3.7 billion. And Intel's Network and Edge division reported a 30% sales drop to $1.5 billion.
Intel cleared a very low bar with its first-quarter report and has a long road ahead to improve its business standing, Barclays analyst Blayne Curtis said in a note to clients. Curtis reiterated his equal weight, or neutral, rating on Intel stock.
Elsewhere, Susquehanna Financial Group analyst Christopher Rolland called Intel's report "a small step in the right direction." He noted that Intel management is calling for a "modest" recovery in PC and server chip businesses in the second half of the year. Rolland kept his neutral rating on Intel stock.
Chip Firms Cut Forecasts
Semiconductor stocks have taken a hit this earnings season as many chipmakers cut their forecasts amid weakening demand.
Chipmakers guiding lower have included Impinj, Mobileye, Silicon Labs, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and Texas Instruments. MaxLinear and Wolfspeed also disappointed investors with their guidance.
Intel stock ranks No. 17 out of 30 stocks in IBD's semiconductor manufacturing industry group, according to IBD Stock Checkup. INTC stock has an IBD Composite Rating of 27 out of 99.
The Composite Rating scores a stock's key growth metrics against all other stocks regardless of industry group.
Follow Patrick Seitz on Twitter at @IBD_PSeitz for more stories on consumer technology, software and semiconductor stocks.
