AMD
It's not that there wasn't great progress. Sales were $1.26 billion. A 96% revenue increase and $0.09 per-share profit -- over last year's $0.40 loss -- are nothing to sneeze at. But (yawn, excuse me) they're not too exciting either, coming in just about exactly where analysts thought they would.
Of course, hitting your mark doesn't get you a free pass. It wasn't Intel's long-expected nearly 100% increase in earnings per share that earned it a trip down the gauntlet; it was the 15% uptick in inventories and a warning on slimming profit margins. AMD passed the inventory test -- at least compared to Intel -- with a smaller-than-5% increase. And it predicted moderate increases in sales for the upcoming months, so it shouldn't be hit by the same kind of panic selling.
One of the more interesting developments for AMD is the continued growth of its flash memory business. This product -- not to be confused with the flash RAM produced by Lexar Media
While AMD's recent desktop processors, including its popular 64-bit chips, are raking in increasing sales, the rapid adaptation of sophisticated cell phones and other handheld computers may provide the real thrust to AMD's growth down the road. And that might make future earnings announcements a lot more exciting.
For more Fool tech coverage:
- Will AMD and Dell make sweet music?
- What's the deal with Chinese Chips?
Fool contributor Seth Jayson owns shares of SanDisk, but has no position in any other company mentioned. View his Fool profile here.