Intel said it reported record full year results but its lower fourth quarter came under expectations. Still, the company said it will lift its quarterly cash dividend by 5 percent to 0.315 per share and that it expects record revenues for 2019.
For the fourth quarter, revenues rose 9 percent from the year before to USD 18.7 billion. Revenues at Intel’s PC-centric business (CCG) rose 10 percent while at its data-centric businesses (DCG), it went up 9 percent. Revenues jumped 43 percent at Mobileye but declined 7 percent at the Internet of Things Group (IOTG), including the now divested Wind River. Excluding those operations, IOTG revenues lifted 4 percent.
The gross margin slid to 60.2 percent from 63.2 percent, the operating profit advanced 15 percent to USD 6.2 billion while the net profit went to USD 5.2 billion from a loss of 0.7 billion, with earnings per share going up to USD 1.12 from a loss of 0.15.
For the full year, Intel generated a record USD 29.4 billion in cash from operations, paid dividends of USD 5.5 billion and used USD 10.7 billion to buy back 217 million shares. Revenues for the period climbed 13 percent to USD 70.8 billion, the operating profit advanced 29 percent to USD 23.3 billion while the net profit went to USD 21.1 billion from 9.6 billion and EPS lifted to USD 4.48 from 1.99. The gross margin was off at 61.7 percent from 62.3 percent.
Looking forward, Intel is guiding for first quarter revenues and EPS of USD 16 billion and 0.81 per share, respectively. For the full year, revenues are seen at USD 71.5 billion and earnings per share at USD 4.35.
