SUNNYVALE, Calif. (AP) ? Chip-maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. said Thursday that it had a profit in the third quarter, reversing a loss, thanks to strong demand for chips in laptops and from emerging markets like China and India.
Net income in the three months to Oct. 1 came to $97 million, or 13 cents per share, reversing a loss of $118 million, or 17 cents per share, a year ago.
Excluding items such as amortization of intangibles and a loss on a debt repurchase, adjusted earnings came to 15 cents per share, beating the 10 cents expected by analysts polled by FactSet.
Revenue grew 4 percent to $1.69 billion from $1.62 billion a year ago, also better than the $1.66 billion expected by analysts.
The growth came despite supply constraints. Last month, AMD cut its outlook for the quarter because of manufacturing problems that prevented AMD from making as many of a new type of chip called “Llano” as it wanted. The chip is part of a family of “accelerated processing units” that AMD is betting will be a significant part of the company’s future. The chips feature an innovative design that combines computer processing capabilities and sophisticated graphics-rendering features, tasks that have traditionally been handled on separate chips.
AMD, which makes about a fifth of the world’s computer processors, has blamed the delays on manufacturing problems at a facility in Germany operated by GlobalFoundries. AMD’s biggest rival is Intel Corp., which essentially owns the rest of the market.
AMD said it expects fourth-quarter revenue to increase 1 percent to 5 percent from the third quarter, implying revenue between $1.71 billion and $1.77 billion. The midpoint of the range is higher than the $1.72 billion analysts were looking for.
AMD shares rose 27 cents, or nearly 5 percent, to $5.81 in after-hours trading Thursday, after closing up 45 cents, or 8.7 percent at $5.54.
