AMD Posts Narrower Loss

(RTTNews) - Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) said Thursday after the markets closed that its first quarter loss narrowed from last year, helped by strong revenue growth in its graphics and visual solutions business.

The company's quarterly earnings per share, excluding items, also came in above analysts' expectations as did its quarterly revenue. At the same time, the company gave an upbeat revenue guidance for the current quarter.

Rory Read, AMD president and CEO, said, "Backed by our powerful x86 processor cores and hands-down best graphics experiences, we achieved 28 percent revenue growth from the year-ago quarter. We are well positioned to continue to grow profitably as we diversify our business and enable our customers to drive change and win."

AMD shares are currently gaining 5.96% in after hours trading after closing the day's regular trading session at $3.69, down 7 cents or 1.86%. The shares trade in a 52-week range of $2.29 to $4.65.

For the first quarter ended March 29, 2014, the Sunnyvale, California-based company reported a net loss of $20 million or $0.03 per share, compared to a net loss of $146 million or $0.19 per share for the year-ago quarter.

Excluding items, adjusted net income for the first quarter was $12 million or $0.02 per share, compared to an adjusted net loss of $94 million or $0.13 per share in the prior year quarter.

On average, 23 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report breakeven per share for the first quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Gross margin for the quarter shrank to 35% from 41% a year earlier.

Revenue for the first quarter rose 28% to $1.40 billion from $1.09 billion in the same quarter last year. Twenty-three analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $1.34 billion for the first quarter.

Revenue from its computing solutions segment fell 12% year-over-year to $663 million, while revenue from its graphics and visual solutions segment jumped 118% to $734 million.

Computing solutions segment primarily includes x86 microprocessors, chipsets, embedded processors and dense servers. Graphics and visual solutions segment mainly includes graphics processing units, including professional graphics, semi-custom System-on-Chip products, development services and technology for game consoles.

Looking forward, the company expects second quarter revenue to increase 3%, plus or minus 3%, sequentially. Analysts currently expect the company to post revenue of $1.36 billion, which below the company's first quarter revenue of $1.40 billion.

Larger rival Intel Corp. (INTC) on Tuesday reported first quarter profit that fell 5% from last year, hurt mainly by higher income tax expenses even as revenue grew slightly. The company's quarterly earnings per share came in above analysts' expectations, but its quarterly revenue fell shy of analysts' forecast.