Intel exhibited better than expected performance for the second quarter, and this could be good news for Apple, or more specifically, for its Macs. For the quarter, the chip maker posted earnings of 55 cents per share on revenue of $13.2 billion versus the consensus estimate of 50 cents on $13.04 billion.
Intel numbers positive for PC makers
Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry told Benzinga that no one expected such a strong performance from the chip maker. “They beat both bottom line, top line and they guided up, which clearly indicates that the datacenter buildout has just started,” Chowdhry said.
Intel is benefiting from the growing cloud businesses of Microsoft and Amazon, Chowdhry said. The analyst notes that Intel will do great as they have been able to develop their business around the cloud ecosystem. As ARM is the preferred name for mobile computing, in the same way, Intel chips are the obvious choice for cloud computing, Chowdhry said.
Commenting on Intel’s performance, he also said the company displayed great results despite the grim PC growth expectations. Based on this, the analyst suggests strong sales of Apple’s Mac. He added that the new MacBooks have been very popular since their debut, and they will also benefit immensely from Amazon’s and Microsoft’s cloud businesses. Chowdhry expects strong sales numbers for Apple, saying, “This is a key takeaway from Intel’s numbers and guidance.”
No, Windows and PCs are not dead
Sean Udall, CIO of Quantum Trading Strategies, is of the opinion that Intel’s report is more important than the numbers posted by Netflix, which the analysts were waiting anxiously for. Netflix also reported its earnings on Wednesday.
Udall noted that before the earnings report, Intel’s stock witnessed a “rash of analyst downgrades,” with none of the analysts recommending the stock at $29. Udall added that everyone was talking about the struggling PC market, the “death of Microsoft, the death of Windows, the death of the PC.” The expert believes that Microsoft and Windows are not going anywhere and that Windows 10 will get a good response. On the future of PCs, Udall said they will stay for another “decade or two.”
Along with Apple, Intel’s beat bring good news for Micron as well. In a report on Thursday, Needham analyst Rajvindra S. Gill maintained a Strong Buy rating on Micron, citing positive results and strong guidance from Intel.
At around 10:30 am Eastern, Intel shares were up 1.1% at $30.02, and year to date, the stock is down by almost 19%.
