You want answers?
I think I'm entitled to them.
You want answers?
I want the truth.
You can't handle the truth!
-- Versified from A Few Good Men, script by Aaron Sorkin
If you have some cash to invest today, Mr. Market is doing you a solid favor. Shares of Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD) fell after a surprisingly strong earnings report, and I think it's all a big misunderstanding. In other words, this would be a great time to load up on discounted AMD shares.
Nobody seems to care about the flipside of the coin. The $0.66 GAAP loss per share was indeed wider than the year-ago quarter's $0.60 loss per share -- but much better than last quarter's massive $2.37 loss per share. Despite strong product launches from rival Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and a continued weak economy, AMD has clearly turned a corner through cost savings and restructuring.
In terms of sales, the story turns outright positive. Net revenue was down 21% year-over-year to $1.18 billion -- but that's actually 1.3% net sales growth from last quarter. Last year, the first quarter saw 22% lower sales than the previous period. The year before that, it was a 36% seasonal sales swoon. In 2006, it was a 28% drop. AMD is producing stellar sales while swimming against seasonal currents.
As for CEO Dirk Meyer's presumed doubts about the PC market's bottom, here's what he had to say about that: "You know, I've heard some say that we've hit bottom. I don't know how anybody could say that we've hit bottom given the continued uncertainty that we have in the macroeconomic climate. And as a result of that I would say we're simply being cautious in our outlook." He's hardly crucifying Dell (NASDAQ:DELL), Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ), or server partner Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ:JAVA) here -- it's just conservative estimates for the murky waters ahead.
Historically, the second quarter has been a challenging quarter for AMD. "You put all that together and the outlook is murky at best, and that results in our forecast," Meyer said. And I think a few news outlets missed these ameliorating facts.
So AMD is going, going, gone at slightly lower prices today than yesterday, despite a generally up market. And I don't see any good reason for that price drop. Feel free to take advantage of the mispricing, while it lasts.
Further Foolishness:
