Intel’s Big Forecast Gives Chip Bulls Reason to Celebrate

(Bloomberg) — Intel Corp.’s better-than-expected forecasts delivered the kind of good news semiconductor investors were looking for to justify record highs.The biggest U.S. chipmaker projected revenue in the current quarter of about $19 billion, more than $1 billion above the highest analyst estimate, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Perhaps even more important for the broader industry, Intel’s data center revenue in the fourth quarter also expanded by 19%, compared with the same period a year ago. That beat the average of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg at 5.3%.Nvidia Corp., Micron Technology Inc. and Advanced Micro Devices all rose more than 1.5% in after-hours trading while Intel gained as much as 7.8%. The Philadelphia semiconductor index has gained more than 5% since the start of the year and closed at a fresh record on Thursday.Intel’s results came a day after Texas Instruments Inc. calmed nerves with a forecast that met estimates but failed to spark a rally.To contact the reporter on this story: Jeran Wittenstein in San Francisco at [email protected] contact the editors responsible for this story: Catherine Larkin at [email protected], Jennifer Bissell-LinskFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.