Shares of Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) stock dropped Friday, after the company reported lower-than-expected revenue for the fiscal fourth quarter and light guidance.
Earnings per Share rang in at $1.28, excluding certain items, vs. $1.22 per share expected by analysts. Revenue registered at $18.66 billion, vs. $19.01 billion as expected by analysts.
The company said in a statement that revenue went up 9% year over year in the quarter, which ended Dec. 29.
While the quarterly numbers are always important, investors are also eagerly awaiting an update on Intel’s search for a new CEO. It’s been seven months since Brian Krzanich was forced out after the company determined he’d been engaged in a “consensual relationship with an Intel employee.” Bob Swan, Intel’s finance chief, has since been serving as interim CEO
The business segment that generates the most revenue for Intel, the Client Computing Group that includes PC chips, hit $9.82 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter, up 10% but below the $10.01 billion consensus estimate among analysts.
Intel’s Data Center Group, which includes chips for cloud providers, did $6.07 billion in revenue, below the $6.35-billion analyst estimate, while Non-Volatile Memory Solutions Group revenue totaled $1.11 billion, just under the $1.12 billion estimate.
With respect to guidance, Intel said it expects to post 87 cents in earnings per share, excluding certain items, on around $16 billion in revenue in the first quarter of 2019. Analysts had been looking for $1.01 per share, excluding certain items, on $17.35 billion in revenue
Shares opened Friday down $3.05, or 6.1%, to $46.71
