Intel Corp. reported Tuesday its fourth-quarter earnings more than doubled, beating the highest estimates, as demand for its Pentium and Pentium Pro chips in personal computers drove a 41 percent increase in sales.
Intel said net income rose to $1.91 billion, or $2.13 a share, from $867 million, or 98 cents, a year earlier. Sales rose to $6.44 billion from $4.58 billion.
Analysts had expected earnings of $1.83, based on the survey of 35 analysts by I/B/E/S International Inc. The highest estimate had been $2.05.
Intel said it expects first-quarter revenue to be unchanged from the fourth quarter, and anticipates expenses will rise between 4 percent and 5 percent from the $1.2 billion in the fourth quarter.
The Santa Clara-based company released the earnings after the market closed. During Tuesday’s regular trading hours, Intel shares closed up 25 cents on the Nasdaq stock market, to an all-time closing high of $147.12, after hitting an all-time high of $149.75 during the day. But its shares slid to $144.87 in after-hours trading after it said first-quarter revenues will be flat with the fourth quarter, while expenses are expected to rise.
The company said its board authorized a 2-for-1 stock split through a special distribution. Shareholders will vote May 21.
Intel chief executive Andrew Grove said the performance was driven by the growth in the Internet, personal-computer sales in emerging markets and corporate PC and software upgrades.
The company’s gross profit margin in the fourth quarter widened to 63 percent from 49 percent a year earlier. The company said it expects the margin to fall back to around 50 percent. The margin was helped by a lower percentage of less-profitable motherboard products, which include a processor and other chips that form the guts of a personal computer.
Intel also said it will pay out a special “thank you” bonus of $1,000 to all its 48,500 employees.
For the year, Intel’s net income rose 45 percent, to $5.16 billion, or $5.81 a share, from $3.57 billion, or $4.03 a share. Sales rose 28 percent, to $20.8 billion from $16.2 billion.
