Intel Corp. (INTC) is ordering its 6-nanometer (nm) chips to be manufactured by TSMC (TSM) for next year, according to a report from the Taiwan-based newspaper Commercial Times.The news is considered unprecedented for Intel, a prominent chip manufacturer, now using a third-party manufacturer to create its own product. On July 23, Intel announced that it would see significant delays until 2022 for its latest cutting-edge 7-nm chip. Intel CEO Bob Swan said on a Q2 earnings call that the company has "invested in contingency plans to hedge against further schedule uncertainty" and that it could involve "somebody else's foundry."The Commercial Times report provides the first confirmation of Intel's "contingency plans" with a reported Intel order of 180,000 wafers from TSMC to produce its 6-nm chip. However, it was not clear who would be manufacturing the much delayed, 7-nm chip.The announcement last week overshadowed Intel's upbeat Q2 earnings and sent ripples across...
(Bloomberg) -- Gold’s record-breaking rally showed signs of losing steam after futures touched $2,000 an ounce for the first time, and silver was briefly whipsawed, as investors assess whether prices rose too high, too fast.Bullion futures pared a climb of more than 2% to a record as traders looked to lock in profits and the dollar recouped some of its earlier losses. While there’s no end in sight to the economic turmoil unleashed by the coronavirus pandemic and expectations are that more stimulus will be needed to boost growth, investors may seek out more bullish signals before pushing prices higher.“This is the highest high and in every time zone the traders have been trying to push it higher and higher,” said Brian Lan, managing director of Singapore-based dealer GoldSilver Central Pte., noting that spot gold’s gains petered out once it reached $1,981 an ounce. “You see the strength wasn’t there. They...
F5 Networks (FFIV) reported stronger-than-expected 3Q results fueled by increased demand for digital solutions. Its adjusted earnings of $2.18 per share surpassed analysts’ expectations of $2.04 and came in higher than its guidance of $1.91-$2.13 per share, the company said on July 27.Adjusted revenues in the third quarter increased 4% to $585.9 million year-over-year and beat Street estimates of $572.9 million.“Large enterprise customers are accelerating their digital transformations, increasing their digital engagement, and boosting capacity and security on customer-facing applications and on platforms that enable employee collaboration,” said F5 CEO François Locoh-Donou. “Demand for solutions to meet these immediate and long-term business requirements drove 4% GAAP and non-GAAP revenue growth, and 43% non-GAAP software revenue growth in our third quarter.”Buoyed by better-than-expected 3Q results, the company anticipates non-GAAP revenues in the range of $595-$615 million (mid-point $605 million) and earnings per share between $2.30 and $2.42 (mid-point $2.36). F5 Networks’ top...
Merrill Lynch analyst Vivek Arya said on July 27 that Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is the biggest beneficiary of Intel’s (INTC) 7-nanometer product delay. During its second-quarter earnings release on July 23, the chipmaker announced that the launch of its new processor chips would be postponed by a year.The five-star analyst reiterated his Buy rating on the stock and raised the price target to $77 (11.6% upside potential) from $65, saying that “he has higher confidence in AMD's medium/longer-term prospects.”Arya pointed out that Intel’s product “delay could accelerate AMD market share gains back toward their historical peaks of 20% for PC and 25% servers, up from 17% and 10%, today.” He expects AMD to be "on track to achieve earnings power of $3-plus by 2023, suggesting a CAGR of 43%.”Similarly, Raymond James analyst Chris Caso is also confident about the impact of Intel’s 7-nanometer product delay, saying that “the news will...
Following Intel’s (INTC) disastrous 7nm product delay due to a process “defect mode”, the company has announced a major shakeup to its tech team – including the departure of Chief Engineering Officer Murthy Renduchintala on August 3 2020.According to Intel this will “accelerate product leadership and improve focus and accountability in process technology execution.”The Technology, Systems Architecture and Client Group (TSCG) will be separated into five teams, with leaders reporting directly to CEO Bob Swan: 1. Technology Development – Run by Dr. Ann Kelleher & Dr. Mike Mayberry with the focus on 7nm and 5nm processes. 2. Manufacturing and Operations – Run by Keyvan Esfarjani with the focus on product ramp and new fab capacity build-outs. 3. Design Engineering – Run by Josh Walden in the interim. 4. Architecture, Software, and Graphics – Run by Raja Koduri with the continued focus of developing Intel’s architecture and software strategy and graphics portfolio. 5....
The coronavirus crisis may have triggered the long-anticipated tipping point in oil demand and it is focusing minds in OPEC. The pandemic drove down daily crude consumption by as much as a third earlier this year, at a time when the rise of electric vehicles and a shift to renewable energy sources were already prompting downward revisions in forecasts for long-term oil demand. It has prompted some officials in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, oil's most powerful proponent since it was founded 60 years ago, to ask whether this year's dramatic demand destruction heralds a permanent shift and how best to manage supplies if the age of oil is drawing to a close....
