AMD might not be a profit-generating powerhouse on the scale of Apple or Intel, but it’s definitely not doing too badly for itself these days. The chipmaker’s latest earnings release says revenue for the first quarter of 2011 was up 2% compared to last year, while net income climbed by an impressive 98%. More remarkable still, first-quarter profits were higher than those from the holiday quarter—by 36%.
Here’s a breakdown of the results compared to data from previous quarters:
Q1 2010 | Q4 2010 | Q1 2011 | |
Revenue | $1.57 billion | $1.65 billion | $1.61 billion |
Net income | $257 million | $375 million | $510 million |
Gross margin | 47% | 45% | 43% |
AMD attributes the year-on-year growth to shipments of its accelerated processing units, which "greatly exceeded" the chipmaker’s expectations. It’s worth noting that the company’s gross margin appears to be shrinking slowly, though.
Now, which of AMD’s businesses did best last quarter: microprocessors or graphics? According to the earnings release, the computing solutions wing saw revenue rise 3% compared to last year, despite lower average selling prices. Meanwhile, the graphics business was "flat year-over-year," and it also saw prices decrease.
Looking ahead at the ongoing quarter, AMD expects its revenue to be "flat to slightly down" compared to Q1. Since Q2 revenue added up to $1.65 billion last year, we’re looking at a potentially less rosy second-quarter release announcement come July.