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Technology Stocks : Intel Corporation (INTC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: miraje who wrote (45588)	1/14/1998 9:19:00 PM
From: Maverick	Respond to of 186894

Good News for Intel Intel's pretty upbeat today--good earnings report, green light from the FTC on its Chips and Technologies Inc. acquisition, and a new chip to show off. First, it announced higher-than-expected Q4 earnings, due to a strong performance of the new versions of Pentiums as well as higher European revenue. Net income was $1.7 billion (98 cents per share), well above analyst expectations of 90 cents per share. But, ominously, the chip giant predicted that its overall gross profit margins would only be about 55 percent of total revenues in 1998, making analysts mutter and squawk. However, Intel gets to keep at least one of its new toys: The FTC decided not to seek a preliminary injunction blocking Intel's purchase of Chips and Technologies Inc. The deal, worth $420 million, will continue as planned, according to the New York Times. But Reuters warns that the FTC's investigation will be folded into its ongoing, broad review of Intel's business practices. While News.com also covers the government's statement, no one weighs in on the investigation into the the Digital deal. And, finally, Intel's begun shipping the newest Pentium II, to debut at the end of this month. It'll reach a nifty top speed of 333-MHz (up from 300 MHz); News.com has the nitty-gritty technical specs. news.com

To: miraje who wrote (45588)	1/14/1998 9:22:00 PM
From: Maverick	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 186894

Faster Pentium II, Part II Newer Pentium IIs will also improve system performance by using high-speed cache memory that runs at a faster speed. For example, a 300-MHz processor would communicate with cache memory at 300 MHz, instead of the 150 MHz it does now. Memory chip performance is also expected to jump. Where the higher data path speeds and faster processors will offer a significant advantage, Gwenapp says, is for users who access databases frequently, or edit large images in applications, or often manipulate large files. This raises the possibility that some large corporate customers may wait for better performance. Already, International Data Corporation says that sales of high-end PC servers declined slightly last year as customers postponed purchases as they wait for Intel to release the faster "Deschutes" Pentium II processors. As part of this new crop of Pentium IIs, some will be available for use in four-processor server systems. Currently, the Pentium II architecture is limited to two-processor configurations. Nathan Brookwood, a processor market analyst with Dataquest, expects the market for server computers to see a significant upturn because of the large increase in performance future versions of the Pentium II and the faster bus will offer. However, he doesn't expect a significant number of consumer or corporate desktop users to postpone purchases. "In the server space, I would expect to see a giant leap forward in terms of performance," Brookwood says. Because of these improvements, "Intel will start to eat into more of the server business that was being served by RISC platforms from Sun (SUNW) and Digital (DEC).