A case in point is Intel (INTC), a well”financed leader in designing and manufacturing microprocessor chips. We invested in Intel common stock early 2013 when the shares sold off meaningfully on investor fears of a poor near term outlook due to weak PC end”user demand and general macro related weakness in IT spending. In our view, these shorter term, more macro related concerns were ignoring Intel’s solid franchise in microprocessors for PCs and servers, which it has continued to enhance through its technological and manufacturing leadership. While Intel faces challenges in trying to capture share in faster growing mobile markets, we believe that there is substantial value in its core businesses. There are reportedly some 600 million PCs that are four years old or older vs. typical replacement cycle at around three years. Given the proliferation of new applications, many of which require greater computing power, an upgrade of one's PC, particularly in the workplace, eventually becomes a necessity. For anyone who has experienced the frustration of trying to work on an older PC, watching the hourglass or equivalent thereof, slowly spin as an application is loading, you know what we mean! Further, we were being paid to wait, as the stock paid a 4.3% dividend; the Fund was able to acquire shares at around 4.6 times EBITDA and 10 times earnings.
The strengths of Intel showed through in its second quarter 2014 earnings report which benefitted from an improvement in PC demand, helped by upgrades driven by the expiration of support for Windows XP and a realized 11% increase in pricing in its data center offerings, where Intel continues to be the market leader. We did take advantage of a rise in the stock price to trim the Fund’s position as shares rose approximately 30% year to date and moved closer to our NAV target.
From Third Avenue Value Fund’s Third Quarter 2014 Commentary.
