Intel beat revenue and profit expectations for the first quarter on Thursday, driven by higher demand for chips from data centres and personal computers. Shares of the Santa Clara, California-based chipmaker rose 5.2 per cent to $55.85 (€46.11)after the bell on Wall Street.
Intel has been focused on transforming itself from a supplier of personal computers to a maker of chips for growing data centre business and newer areas such as driverless cars and artificial intelligence.
The company’s net income rose to $4.45 billion, or 93 cents per share, in the quarter ended March 31, from $2.96 billion, or 61 cents per share, a year earlier. Net revenue rose to $16.07 billion from $14.80 billion.
Microsoft’s quarterly profit rose 35 per cent, as more businesses signed up to its Azure cloud computing services and Office 365 productivity suite.
Microsoft said that net income rose to $7.42 billion or 95 cents per share in the third quarter ended March 31st, from $5.49 billion or 70 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose to $26.82 billion from $23.21 billion.
Amazon reported first-quarter revenue and profit that trounced analysts’ estimates, driven by a surge in online shopping and higher demand for its cloud services.
Amazon, whose shares were up 7.1 per cent in after-hours trading, forecast net sales of between $51 billion and $54 billion for the current quarter. Net sales in North America, its biggest market, jumped 46.4 per cent to $30.73 billion in the latest quarter.
Amazon, which reported it had over 100 million Prime subscribers last week, said its net sales rose to $51.04 billion from $35.7 billion, a year earlier, beating the average analyst estimate of $49.78 billion.
Revenue from Amazon Web Services, the company’s fast-growing cloud services business, soared 48.6 per cent to $5.44 billion, beating the average analyst estimate of $5.25 billion.
Amazon’s total operating expenses rose 41.5 per cent to $49.12 billion, as the company invests heavily into expanding its Prime program, creating original video content and building its warehouse and delivery infrastructure.
In the non-tech sector Starbucks’ sales at established cafes in its US-dominated Americas region grew slightly more than expected in the latest quarter amid increasing competition from upscale independent cafes, convenience stores and fast-food chains. Sales at Americas region cafes rose 2 per cent in the second quarter ended April 1st, Starbucks said on Thursday.
