Intel pulls in third-quarter profit of $3.1 billion, cuts capex even further

Intel's third-quarter financial results just rolled in, the numbers are down versus the year before but better than analyst consensus. The chip giant pulled in a quarterly revenue of $14.5 billion, versus $14.6 billion in the same period a year earlier, and net income of $3.1 billion, down 6 percent year-over-year. Revenue beat analyst consensus by about $250 million while earnings per share of 64 cents were 5 cents better than expected. For the current quarter, Intel expects revenue of $14.8 billion, plus or minus $500 million, which is in-line with analyst consensus.

Intel Corporation today reported third-quarter revenue of $14.5 billion, operating income of $4.2 billion, net income of $3.1 billion and EPS of 64 cents. The company generated approximately $5.7 billion in cash from operations, paid dividends of $1.1 billion, and used $1.0 billion to repurchase 36 million shares of stock.

“We executed well in the third quarter and delivered solid results in a challenging economic environment,” said Brian Krzanich, Intel CEO. “The quarter demonstrates Intel innovation in action. Customers are excited about our new 6th Gen Intel Core processor, and we introduced our breakthrough 3D XPoint™ technology, the industry’s first new memory category in more than two decades."

Q3 Key Business Unit Trends

Client Computing Group revenue of $8.5 billion, up 13 percent sequentially and down 7 percent year-over-year

Data Center Group revenue of $4.1 billion, up 8 percent sequentially and up 12 percent year-over-year

Internet of Things Group revenue of $581 million, up 4 percent sequentially and up 10 percent year-over-year

Software and services operating segments revenue of $556 million, up 4 percent sequentially and flat year-over-year

The report also mentions full-year capex is expected to come in at only $7.3 billion, plus or minus $500 million, which is $500 million less than what Intel wrote in its Q2 2015 earnings report. Originally, Intel guided capex of $10 billion for this year but the number has been reduced several times.

And here's a bit more information about unit sales, which were hit by reduced PC demand:

Q3 2015 compared to Q3 2014:
- Notebook platform volumes decreased 14%
- Notebook platform average selling prices increased 4%
- Desktop platform volumes decreased 15%
- Desktop platform average selling prices increased 8%
- Tablet platform volumes of 8 million units decreased 39%

First nine months of 2015 compared to the first nine months of 2014:
- Notebook platform volumes decreased 8%
- Desktop platform volumes decreased 18%
- Desktop platform average selling prices increased 6%
- Tablet platform volumes of 26 million units decreased 7%