Sector Snap: Chipmakers
Shares of chipmakers and other suppliers fall on worries about weak demand for PCs
NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of chipmakers and other computer industry suppliers fell Friday after Intel Corp. reported weak demand for PCs is hurting its earnings.
The world's biggest chipmaker said late Thursday that fourth-quarter net income fell 27 percent to $2.47 billion and revenue fell 3 percent to $13.5 billion. It also predicted a low single-digit percentage increase in revenue this year. While the numbers were in line with what Wall Street expected, analysts are concerned about the company's market challenges.
Like other companies that supply the PC industry, Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel has been hurt by the shift to smartphones and tablets, which don't use its chip products. Investors are also concerned about Intel's plans to significantly increase its capital spending to $13 billion in 2013, up $2 billion from 2012, despite the slowing sales.
In afternoon trading, Intel shares dropped $1.54, or 6.8 percent, to $21.14, after falling as low as $21.03 earlier in the session. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded between $19.23 and $29.27. Over the past year, the shares have lost about 11 percent of their value.
Meanwhile, shares of Intel rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. posted some of the day's largest declines, dropping 29 cents, or 10.6 percent, to $2.45 in afternoon trading. That stock has traded between $1.81 and $8.35 over the past year.
Elsewhere in the sector, shares of Silicon Motion Technology Corp. fell 87 cents, or 5.6 percent, to $14.80; Atmel Corp. fell 16 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $6.68 and Applied Micro Circuits Corp. lost 13 cents to $9.43.
