AMD sees profit rise but CPU sales collapse

AMD reported its Q4 2013 earnings. The good news is that the company saw a big rise in revenue and profit, the company pulled in a revenue of $1.59 billion, up to 38 percent year-over-year, and a net income of $89 million, versus a net loss of $473 million the year before. Compared to 2012, AMD's revenue shrunk 2 percent to $5.3 billion, while its net loss dropped from $1.18 billion in 2012 to $83 million in 2013.

The bad news is that most of the increase in revenue seems to come from AMD's console deals with Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony. There isn't an exact breakdown for consoles, it's slapped together with GPUs and other products into the Graphics and Visual Solutions section on AMD's balance sheet. The Graphics and Visual Solutions unit pulled in a net revenue of $865 million and operating income of $121 million in Q4 2013, significantly more than the $326 million revenue and $22 operating income from Q2 2012.

When you look at the Computing Solutions unit, which includes AMD's processor sales, things don't look as rosy. Sales fell to $722 million, from $829 million the year before, while operating loss came in at $7 million. Revenue from AMD's processor division fell from $4,005 billion in 2012 to $3,104 billion in 2013, while operating loss decreased from $231 million to $22 million.

AMD (NYSE:AMD) today announced revenue for the fourth quarter of 2013 of $1.59 billion, operating income of $135 million and net income of $89 million, or $0.12 per share. The company reported non-GAAP operating income of $91 million and non-GAAP net income of $45 million, or $0.06 per share.

For the year ended December 28, 2013, AMD reported revenue of $5.3 billion, operating income of $103 million and a net loss of $83 million, or $0.11 per share.

“Strong execution of our strategic transformation plan drove significant revenue growth and improved profitability in the fourth quarter,” said Rory Read, AMD president and CEO. “The continued ramp of our semi-custom SoCs and leadership graphics products resulted in a 38 percent revenue increase from the year ago quarter. Our focus in 2014 is to deliver revenue growth and profitability for the full year by leveraging our differentiated IP to drive success in our targeted new markets and core businesses.”

Quarterly Financial Summary

Gross margin was 35 percent in Q4 2013.
Gross margin decreased 1 percentage point sequentially. Q4 2013 gross margin included a $7 million benefit from the sale of inventory previously reserved in Q3 2012 as compared to a similar benefit of $19 million in Q3 2013.

Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities balance, including long-term marketable securities, was $1.2 billion at the end of the quarter, in line with expectations.

Computing Solutions segment revenue decreased 9 percent sequentially and 13 percent year-over-year. The sequential and year-over-year declines were primarily due to decreased chipset and notebook unit shipments.

Operating loss was $7 million, compared with operating income of $22 million in Q3 2013, primarily due to lower revenue and higher bonus expense. Operating loss for Q4 2012 was $323 million.

Microprocessor Average Selling Price (ASP) increased sequentially and year-over-year.

Graphics and Visual Solutions segment revenue increased 29 percent sequentially and 165 percent year-over-year primarily driven by our semi-custom SoCs.

Operating income was $121 million compared with $79 million in Q3 2013 and $22 million in Q4 2012, primarily due to increased revenue from our semi-custom SoCs. GPU ASP increased sequentially and year-over-year.