On Jan. 16, chipmaker extraordinaire Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) released fourth-quarter earnings for the 2006 fiscal year, ended Dec. 30, 2006.

  • Revenues were down year over year, despite record volume shipments. That's what happens in a serious price war, as the gross margins further demonstrate.
  • That net margin may be down, but it still beats the best quarterly measure AMD (NYSE:AMD) has produced in the last six years.
  • Intel also keeps plenty of cash on hand, with a $10 billion balance even after a 22% reduction over the past year. If anybody can survive a drawn-out battle of attrition, Intel can.

(Figures in millions, except per-share data)

Income Statement Highlights

Q4 2006

Q4 2005

Change

Sales

$9,694.0

$10,201.0

(5.0%)

Net Profit

$1,501.0

$2,453.0

(38.8%)

EPS

$0.26

$0.40

(35.0%)

Diluted Shares

5867.0

6081.0

(3.5%)



Get back to basics with a look at the income statement.

Margin Checkup

Q4 2006

Q4 2005

Change*

Gross Margin

49.6%

61.8%

(12.1)

Operating Margin

15.4%

32.4%

(17.1)

Net Margin

15.5%

24.1%

(8.6)

*Expressed in percentage points.

Margins are the earnings engine. See how they work.

Management Effectiveness

Q4 2006

Q4 2005

Change*

Return On Average Assets

12.6%

20.5%

(7.9)

Return On Average Equity

16.7%

26.9%

(10.2)

*Expressed in percentage points.

See how management puts its financial tools to work.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets

Q4 2006

Q4 2005

Change

Cash + ST Invest.

$10,002.0

$12,772.0

(21.7%)

Accounts Rec.

$2,709.0

$3,914.0

(30.8%)

Inventory

$4,314.0

$3,126.0

38.0%



Liabilities

Q4 2006

Q4 2005

Change

Accts. Payable + Accrued Liabilities

$5,938.0

$6,329.0

(6.2%)

Long-Term Debt

$1,848.0

$2,106.0

(12.3%)



Learn the ways of the balance sheet.

Cash Flow Highlights

Q4 2006

Q4 2005

Change

Capital Expenditures

$1,103.0

$1,359.0

(18.8%)



Find out why Fools always follow the money.

Related Companies:

  • Advanced Micro Devices
  • International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM)
  • Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ:SUNW)
  • Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN)
  • QUALCOMM (NASDAQ:QCOM)
  • Marvell (NASDAQ:MRVL)

Related Foolishness:

Intel is a current recommendation of our Motley Fool Inside Value newsletter service. Treat yourself to a free 30-day guest pass and find out more about the market-thumping results Philip Durell and his gang are belting out.

Fool by Numbers is designed to give you the raw earnings information in a timely fashion, putting all the numbers you need in one easy-to-read place. But at The Motley Fool, we believe numbers tell only part of the story, so check Fool.com for more of our in-depth discussion of what the numbers mean.

At the time of publication, Anders Bylund was an AMD shareholder but had no other position in any company mentioned. Fool rules are here.