Intel is scheduled to release its next earnings report on Wednesday, and analysts have been revising their estimates for the company downward. Intel has historically relied on the PC market, which continues to decline despite some analysts’ view that it is stabilizing.
What to expect in Intel’s earning report
Consensus estimates suggest Intel will report revenue of $13.1 billion and 50 cents per share in earnings for the June quarter. Wedbush analysts Betsy Van Hees and Ryan Jue just trimmed their estimates and expect that the rest of Wall Street will follow suit very soon. They’re now estimating revenue of $13 billion and earnings of 49 cents per share. Their previous estimates were $13.2 billion in revenue and 51 cents per share in earnings.
Because of their downward estimate revisions, they also trimmed their price target for Intel from $37 to $34 per share but maintained their Outperform rating on the stock.
What will weigh on Intel’s results?
They provided a number of reasons not to expect much from Intel’s earnings report this week. The biggest concern for the semiconductor manufacturer is waning PC demand, and Gartner backs up this concern. Data from Gartner suggests a 3.9% sequential decline in PC shipments. The Wedbush team is also concerned about the impact the so-called “Grexit” and also China’s stock market crisis will have on Intel.
They expect weak guidance but suggest that there could be upside to earnings because Intel has more levers to pull in capital expenditures and operation expenditures which would increase earnings per share. Intel announced plans to streamline its top management, and the Wedbush team thinks this is setting the stage for more operational cuts, which would be an improvement for Intel’s bottom line. They think management could slash operational expenditures to as low as $19.4 billion.
They also see more room for the company to trim its capital expenditures, possibly down to $8.2 billion, which that would see as a significant positive because it would improve cash flow.
As of this writing, shares of Intel were up 0.75% at $29.39 per share.
