Let's see what Intel says on Tuesday.
This could be the beginning of the end
of this semiconductor crash.
With its new innovative processor lines
and savvy use of capital
(during the downturn),
look for Intel to lead the way
out of the deep market depths!
-- Me, two days ago (presented as free verse in honor of National Poetry Month)
Don't look too far into their declining stock movements today -- mighty Intel
"We believe PC sales bottomed out during the first quarter and that the industry is returning to normal seasonal patterns," Otellini said. That bold statement presumably draws on ordering trends from Intel's major customers such as Hewlett-Packard
There are two caveats to this rosy picture:
- Sales fell further than normal this quarter, compared to first-quarter seasonal trends in recent years. A 13% quarter-over-quarter drop to $7.1 billion can't measure up to the average seasonal slump of about 8% in the last five years. This, plus Otellini's comments, leads me to believe that the rock-bottom bounce happened rather late in the quarter.
- And Paul Otellini is only calling an end to the PC market woes. In other words, there may be signs that consumers may be snapping up laptops, netbooks, and desktop systems again -- but a return to health in the crucial server and workstation markets is not in the books yet. In the conference call, Paul described the server segment as "in reasonable shape."
So, the good news should extend to other consumer-facing businesses in the industry too. I'll even stick my neck out and predict a surprisingly healthy report from Intel rival Advanced Micro Devices
Of course, I'm talking about AMD's revenue here, not earnings -- AMD won't match Intel's $0.11 of earnings per share. But if fellow tech big-wigs IBM and Sun Microsystems
Further Foolishness: