Paul,
We've talked before on this thread about how the business press focuses on bad news and ignores good news, especially where Intel is concerned. The way this $200M charge and $2.3B gain is being reported is a perfect example of their bias towards the negative.
In the following, The Street.com/New York Times manages a paragraph towards the end of the article about the gain. Bad news makes better headlines, but investors deserve better reporting when they are making important decisions. Tabloid journalism, IMHO.
Intel to Take $200 Million 2Q Charge
By Carolyn Koo
TheStreet.com/NYTimes.com Staff Reporter
6/20/00 6:31 PM ET
Intel (INTC:Nasdaq - news), the world's largest chipmaker, said Tuesday that it would take a $200 million charge in the second quarter to cover the cost of replacing defective motherboard chips.
The charge will equal 2 cents a share after a 2-for-1 split of Intel stock takes effect next month.
The news was expected. On May 10, Intel announced that it would replace motherboards with defective memory-translator hub components. The defective MTHs caused some systems to "intermittently reset, reboot and/or hang" and, in some cases, data was corrupted, according to the company.
"This was certainly within the range that analysts have been talking about," Quinn Bolton, an analyst at CIBC World Markets, said of the charge. "What's important is that this is a one-time charge and will not impact the third- or fourth-quarter earnings." He rates Intel a buy and his firm has done no recent underwriting for the company.
Intel already adjusted its first-quarter revenue and inventory for products returned because of this problem. Those revisions had a gross margin impact of $53 million, or less than 1 cent a share on a post-split basis.
Also, Intel said that it expects interest and other income for the second quarter to be about $2.3 billion, significantly larger than the company's previous guidance of $725 million. The increase is largely due to higher-than-expected gains on the sale of equity investments.
The company, based in Santa Clara, Calif., will announce its second-quarter results on July 18.
Shares of Intel closed regular trading Tuesday at 138 5/16, up 7/16 or 0.32%. The stock was little changed in after-hours trading, according to Island ECN.
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