Tech bellwether Intel late Tuesday reported first-quarter profit far above analyst views, but it again opted not to provide guidance for the current quarter because of the uncertain economy.
Worried investors sent Intel shares falling about 5.5% after hours, after it released results that included some positive indicators.
"We believe PC sales bottomed out during the first quarter, and that the industry is returning to normal seasonal patterns," Intel (INTC) Chief Executive Paul Otellini said in a statement.
The No. 1 chipmaker reported per-share profit of 11 cents. That's down 56% from the year-earlier quarter, but far above the 3-cent consensus estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.
Sales fell 26% to $7.14 billion, just above the $6.98 billion expected by analysts.
In a conference call with analysts, Otellini said the "global economy continues to be weak and uncertain" and "demand remains difficult to predict," but Intel's execution during the quarter "was outstanding."
For the second quarter in a row — and just the second time in 10 years — Intel didn't provide formal guidance for this quarter. (In January, when it gave fourth-quarter results, Intel said it expected first-quarter revenue "in the vicinity of $7 billion.")
The lack of guidance shouldn't surprise anyone right now. There are way too many wild cards in the economy for anyone to say with any degree of certainty what is going to happen in the next quarter -- let alone next week. But consider the previous information in conjunction with this chart from the Federal Reserve's latest industrial production report:
Click for a larger image
All industrial production save communication's equipment is down and overall capacity utilization in the high tech sector has taken a nose dive. Semiconductors are down more sharply than the last recession which is obviously an issue for Intel.
And consider this chart from the BEA which shows the percentage change from the previous quarter in investment in software and technical equipment in real terms:
The above chart is why Intel is not offering any forward guidance.
