The year has only just begun, and already Intel is having a busy one. Last week the chip maker unveiled new products at the Consumer Electronics Show, and apparently its booth was constantly mobbed by excited attendees. This week Intel is set to release its next earnings report.
Takeaways from CES
In her report dated Jan. 11, Wedbush analyst Betsy Van Hees says she thinks the chip maker has successfully transitioned away from being just a PC company. This transition is vital as the PC market has been tumbling. At CES last week, she found that foot traffic at Intel’s booth was consistently strong, even to overcapacity as attendees welcomed the many wearable health and fitness products, laptops, drones, tablets, robots, virtual reality and PC gaming products that all run on Intel chips. Indeed, the company put on quite a spectacular showing with an impressive record-setting drone light show.
The analyst notes that while PCs are still more than half of the chip maker’s overall sales for now, she thinks that after CEO Brian Krzanich’s keynote speech, plus the wide array of Internet of Things devices and collaborations with a broad range from ESPN to pop star Lady Gaga, it is no longer just a PC company.
Inline fourth quarter expected
Van Hees expects Intel’s fourth quarter earnings results to be in line with expectations despite the macro headwinds, based on her industry checks and CES takeaways. The company is scheduled to report on Thursday after closing bell. Revenue was guided at $14.8 billion, +/-$500 million and implied net earnings of about 63 cents. Wall Street is expecting earnings of 63 cents per share and $14.8 billion in revenue.
The Wedbush analyst added that the Skylake ramp and strength in the Internet of Things and data center business will offset the weakness in NAND, software, and services revenues.
Intel looks attractive
Intel closed the Altera acquisition on Dec. 28, so the fourth quarter saw essentially no revenues from it in the fourth quarter. Van Hees expects the revenue for the first quarter to see a benefit but a negative impact on earnings per share. She is now estimating first quarter revenue of $14.05 billion and GAAP earnings of 48 cents per share.
She maintained her Outperform rating and $39 per share price target on Intel, saying it looks attractive with its 3.2% dividend yield, suggesting that the chip maker’s stock might be a good place to “weather the volatile market,” with macro issues driving the volatility in the market. She thinks the company can deliver sold year over year earnings and sales growth this year based on strength in data centers, continued declines in mobile losses, synergies from the Altera acquisition, and NAND and Internet of Things growth.
Shares of Intel edged upward by as much as 1.04% to $32.40 per share during regular trading hours today.
