AMD posts better-than-expected profit

[limpness]

Advanced Micro Devices Inc reported a quarterly net profit that beat Wall Street's expectations, and said it expects fourth-quarter sales to be flat compared with the third.

AMD's results came two days after rival Intel's better-than-expected earnings lifted hopes for technology companies, which have been hurt by weak consumer demand in the United States and Europe.

AMD's third-quarter non-GAAP net profit was $108 million, or 15 cents a share, above the 6 cents per share that analysts on average expected, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

A debt charge during the quarter boosted the profit by the equivalent of 3 cents per share.

Shares of AMD, which last year hived off its manufacturing operation, or chip fabrication plants, to focus on chip design, rose to $7.53 in after hours trade after closing 1.11 percent lower at $7.14.

"People are missing the fact that this is a fabless company now. It's going to have fabless margins. They're not as impacted as they used to be by changes in topline," said Gleacher & Company analyst Doug Freedman.

Chip heavyweight Intel on Tuesday said fourth-quarter sales should rise about 3 percent in the December quarter, better than some analysts expected, but less than in better years.

Spending on microprocessors and other components that go into computers usually rises toward the end of the year, in part because of holiday shopping.

AMD's sales in the third quarter were $1.62 billion, in line with $1.615 billion that analysts expected, but down from $1.4 billion in the second quarter.

AMD posts better-than-expected profit - Yahoo! India News