Upbeat AMD report pleases investors

Microprocessor maker AMD posted narrower losses than analysts expected last night.

Microprocessor maker AMD posted narrower losses than analysts expected last night.

For the full year, AMD lost $3.38 billion, $2 billion of which were non-cash charges. Revenues were $6 billion.

AMD's losses in 2007 capped a brutal two-year stretch in which the company's market value has plunged from more than $20 billion to $3.5 billion today. The stock has fallen from over $40 a share in early 2006 to nearly $5 in recent weeks.

AMD is moving to cut costs and protect its share of the microprocessor market from an Intel onslaught.

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Suffering from the costly acquisition of a graphics chip company ATI Technologies AMD absorbed heavy charges connected to the deal in the fourth quarter that dragged down its results.

However, AMD executives stoked shareholder optimism by reiterating their pledge to return the company to profitability by the second half of this year. In addition, they said the flaws plaguing AMD's new line of server chips have been fixed and that samples will ship to customers in two to three weeks.

In after-hours trading, AMD shares rose 26 cents, or more than 4 per cent, to $6.60.