By Sarah Roden
Intel (INTC, Financial) released first quarter earnings on April 14 in-line with revised guidance. On March 12, the semiconductor company slashed 1Q15 revenue outlook from $13.7 billion to $12.8 billion due to “weaker than expected demand for business desktop PCs and lower than expected inventory levels across the PC supply chain [and due to] increasingly challenging macroeconomic and currency conditions, particularly in Europe.”
Intel posted flat year-over-year revenue of $12.8 billion, in-line with revised estimates. Client Computing Group revenue dropped 8% year-over-year to $7.4 billion and Software revenue dropped 3% year-over-year to $534 million. However, Intel claims this drop was offset by growth in data center, Internet of Things, and non-volatile memory businesses. Data Center Group posted revenue of $3.7 billion, a 19% year-over-year increase while the Internet of Things Group posted revenue of $533 million, an 11% year-over-year increase. Intel reported earnings per share of $0.41 for the quarter, an 8% year-over-year increase but a 45% sequential decrease.
CEO Brian Krzanich offered a brief comment, “Year-over-year revenues were flat, with double-digit revenue growth in the data center, IoT and memory businesses offsetting lower than expected demand for business desktop PCs. These results reinforce the importance of continuing to execute our growth strategy.” Analysts remain unsure how much more the PC market will shrink before it stabilizes.
Looking forward, Intel expects to post revenue of $12.2 billion +/- $500 million for the second quarter of 2015. Intel estimates that revenue will continue to be flat for full-year 2015.
Intel has been in talks to buy Altera Corp for more than $10 billion, but the acquisition has been allegedly stalled. The acquisition would be Intel’s largest purchase to date and would allow Intel to diversify its offerings with Altera’s portfolio.
On April 15, analyst Betsy Van Hees of Wedbush upgraded Intel from Neutral to Outperform and raised her price target from $34 to $37. Van Hees believes that Intel’s second quarter guidance is in-reach thanks to the replenishment of PC inventory supply chain for Windows 10 and growth in the Data Center, NAND, and the Internet of Things. The analyst commented, “We believe we are at the trough in PCs and expect strong Q3 Q/Q growth as the supply chain replenishes for the launch of Windows 10.”
Betsy Van Hees has a 62% overall success rate recommending stocks with a +19.8% average return per rating.
Separately on April 15, analyst Blayne Curtis of Barclays maintained an Equal-Weight rating on Intel with a price target of $32. Curtis noted that the PC segment was weak and below expectations but noted strong increases in other segments. He commented, “The stock may seem washed out here and could attract some interest if there are sell-offs elsewhere, but we don’t see a strong upside case and remain on the sidelines.”
Blayne Curtis has a 68% success rate recommending stocks and a +13.2% average return per recommendation.
Overall, the top analyst consensus for Intel on TipRanks is Hold.
Sarah Roden writes about stock market news. She can be reached at [email protected]”‹.
