Chip Maker Reports Loss but Claims Progress
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 18 — Advanced Micro Devices posted its fourth consecutive quarterly loss on Thursday but showed progress in curbing its expenses and capturing a share of strong demand for personal computers.
The mixed report for the third quarter fed skepticism on Wall Street that A.M.D., the second-largest chip maker after Intel, would meet its goal of breaking even in the fourth.
“We are very encouraged by our progress but dissatisfied with our financial results,” said Hector Ruiz, Advanced Micro’s chairman and chief executive, in a conference call with analysts. “We are working diligently to bring this company back to profitability as rapidly as possible.”
A.M.D. reported a net loss of $396 million, or 71 cents a share, on revenue of $1.63 billion for the third quarter. That contrasts with earnings of 27 cents a share on sales of $1.33 billion in the same period last year. But the loss was smaller than the $600 million the company reported in the second quarter.
Advanced Micro Devices’ loss included $120 million, or 22 cents a share, related to charges from its acquisition of the graphics chip maker ATI Technologies last year and its stake in Spansion, the flash memory company.
Analysts’ forecasts called for A.M.D. to report a loss of 62 cents a share, excluding charges, on sales of $1.52 billion for the third quarter.
Shares of A.M.D. rose about 1 percent in extended trading after the report was issued. In regular trading, the shares gained 44 cents, to close at $14.55.
“After several quarters of disappointment, they showed some improvement, but they still are losing significant amounts of money,” said Tim Luke, an analyst at Lehman Brothers. Mr. Luke said he did not expect A.M.D. to approach the break-even point for several quarters, during which Wall Street would closely monitor how well the company rolled out new products. “They’re not out of the woods yet,” he said.
Mr. Ruiz was reluctant to provide a specific outlook for the fourth quarter, which is typically stronger than the third, but he said he expected it to be consistent with seasonal patterns. He said he was optimistic that demand would remain strong, but cautioned that component shortages and other issues could be a problem.
Analysts said the company appeared to have benefited from the same worldwide trends that helped Intel during the quarter. A.M.D.’s report came just two days after Intel said exceptionally strong demand for personal computers in the fall helped profits rise 43 percent and revenue improve 15 percent.
At A.M.D., third-quarter gross margin was 41 percent, an improvement from 33 percent in the second quarter but down from 51 percent in the third quarter of last year. The company attributed the increase from the previous quarter to higher microprocessor unit shipments, improved manufacturing and inventory management, and a better mix of products.
Advanced Micro said that sales of its microprocessors increased 19 percent from the second quarter and that chips used in notebook computers rose 41 percent. Sales of A.M.D.’s graphics chips, the result of the ATI acquisition, rose 29 percent from the second quarter, to $252 million.
In September, Advanced Micro Devices, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., filled a hole in its product line with the introduction of its new Opteron processor for computer servers, which it hopes will help it hold market share.
Advanced Micro gained market share against Intel last year, but at the expense of average selling prices, which fell sharply. At the same time, Intel revamped its product line and introduced a new manufacturing technology that helped it cut costs.
旧金山十月十八日讯：本周四，AMD（超微半导体）公司发布了第三季度财政报表称公司已经连续四个季度亏损，但在节省开支和抢占私人电脑的强大市场需求方面颇有进步。
AMD公司时为全球第二大芯片生产商，仅名列因特尔公司之后。该财报中的消息喜忧参半，华尔街对公司将在第四季度达到收支平衡的目标持怀疑态度。
AMD公司的总裁兼首席执行官海克特 瑞泽说“我们的进步鼓舞人心然而财政状况却让人失望，所以我们正全力以赴地工作以确保尽快把公司恢复到盈利状态。”
财报称AMD公司第三季度净亏3.96亿美元，每股亏0.71美元。营业收入为16.3亿美元比去年第三季度的营业收入13.3亿美元，每股0.27美元相比较进步较大，但是第三季度的亏损要远比公司第二季度财报中的6亿美元要少很多。
AMD公司的亏损计入了同收购图形芯片厂商ATI相关的1.2亿美元一次性支出，合每股支出0.22美元以及投资于闪存公司Spansion 的资金。
分析师此前预计AMD第三季度每股亏损0.62美元，不包括各项费用在内营业收入达到15.2亿美元。
公司财报发布之后AMD公司的股票在延期交易中上升来了1%，在常规交易中上涨0.44美元，报收14.55美元。
雷曼兄弟公司的分析师卢克说“经过几个季度的低迷，公司股票有了一定的改善，但仍损失了大量的钱财。”卢克表示他并不指望AMD公司能在七个季度内达到收支平衡，他说在此期间华尔街将密切关注公司如何大量生产新产品的情况，“毕竟公司还没有脱离“危险”。
公司在第四季度的发展一定比第三季度要强，但是瑞泽先生不愿意透露其具体发展前景。他预计公司发展会符合季节性模式。他乐观地认为市场的需求将继续保持很高的势头，同时他也警告说元件短缺以及其他情况可能是个问题。
有分析人士认为在第三季度因特尔公司在全球化趋势中受益匪浅，而AMD公司也开始从中获利了。就在AMD公司财报发布的前两天因特尔声称今秋个人电脑的巨大市场需求提高了公司43%的利润，15%的营业收入。
AMD公司第三季度的毛利润率为41%，比第二季度的提高了八个百分点，但比去年同期的51%低很多。这八个百分点主要得益于微处理器单位配送量的提高、生产及库存管理的改善和更优质的多样产品。
AMD表示微处理器的销售额比第二季度提高了19%，同时笔记本电脑的芯片用量增加了41%。
另外，认购API公司的产物--图形芯片--的销售额提高了29%，达到2.52亿美元。
九月份，位于加利福尼亚州森尼维耳市的AMD（超微半导体）公司为电脑服务器开发的皓龙处理器为生产线又添新丁，它将为给公司占据一定的市场份额。
去年，平均销售价格的费用大幅下降使得AMD公司有能力与英特尔公司抗衡并占有市场份额。同时，英特尔公司完善了生产线，引进新的生产技术大大降低了多项费用。
