Kit, I hear the neighbors are starting to complain about all the late night phone ringing at the Niles house. <g>
Intel will probably think of several scams that I am too obtuse to imagine. Here are a few I expect we could see:
1. Inventories will continue to explode. Hey, if you don't sell it, you don't have to book the cost of making it. Then, you write it down later and have a one-time charge, which the market forgives. Then you sell it for pennies on the dollar and have a one time gain which the market sees as signs of a turnaround.
2. Big receivables bloat. Givent the weekend ads for Celery boxes, it is obvious that Intel stuffed the OEMs end of quarter.
3. Most of the costs of sales will be in the footnotes, to be paid for at a later date.
4. Disappearing cash.
But the key to Intel is not this quarter. It is the next two quarters. Will they tell the truth when asked about how they are shaping up? Maybe. You never know with Intel. They get touty and spin and then they suddenly get religion.
However, whether Intel confesses or not, the analysts have caught on. You mentioned Niles. Drew Peck, of SG Cowen, was on CNBS who mentioned that Intel will see weaker growth in future quarters and he expected the co. to continue to make buyouts to try to diversify away from the bloody mpc business.
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