AMD fools Wall Street, posts smaller loss than expected
Xbox One, Nintendo Wii U, and Sony PS4 will goose bottom line
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A day after its competitor Intel posted financial results for its most recent quarter that came in slightly below analyst's estimates, AMD bucked that disappointing trend – but it's not quite out of the woods yet.
AMD reported its second quarter results on Thursday after markets closed, and reported a loss of $0.09 per share (non-GAAP) on sales revenues of $1.16bn.
GAAP results were reported at a loss of $0.10 per share but, as an AMD spokesman noted in an email reporting the results, when compared to analyst's predictions, "[Those] estimates best align with our non-GAAP results (loss of $0.09), which primarily excludes the positive impact ($.01) from restructuring charges and amortization of acquired intangible assets."
The Wall Street moneymen missed this one. The consensus of the 26 analysts polled by Yahoo! Finance had projected that AMD would lose $0.13 per share on revenues of $1.11bn. NASDAQ's analysts were a tad less pessimistic, with a projection of that all-important earnings per share (EPS) figure pegged at a loss of $0.12, matched by CNNMoney.
AMD's stock price seesawed immediately after its Q2 2013 results were announced, first spiking to just under $4.80 per share, then dipping to $4.40, then rising again to just under $4.50. As we click Publish on this report, it's started to sink a wee bit again.
Despite the negative EPS numbers, AMD president and CEO Rory Read expressed satisfaction with his company's quarterly performance. "Our focus on restructuring and transforming AMD resulted in improved financial results," he said in a statement. "Our performance in the second quarter was driven by opportunities in our new high-growth and traditional PC businesses."
In addition to reporting its financial results, AMD also announced on Thursday that it was renaming the Graphics segment of its reportable revenues and expenses. Henceforth it will be known as the Graphics and Visual Solutions segment to reflect the larger role of such aspects of the company's business as its semi-custom chips for game consoles.
Touching on the quarter's highlights, AMD touted Microsoft's announcement that the Xbox One will feature a semi-custom AMD SoC. "AMD technology is inside all three of the next generation gaming consoles: Nintendo Wii U, Sony PS4, and Xbox One," the company's statement boasted.
That's certain to be a boost to AMD's bottom line – and an accomplishment that Intel can't match. ®
