Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) cut its fourth-quarter loss, but not as sharply as Wall Street had hoped, as the chip maker absorbed a big charge for the falling value of an acquisition.
Sunnyvale-based AMD said on Thursday that it dialed back its net loss to US$1.4 billion, or US$2.34 per share, in the latest period. The loss was US$1.8 billion, or US$3.06 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2007.
AMD is paying heavily to write down the value of its 2006 acquisition of ATI Technologies, a maker of graphics chips that AMD bought for US$5.6 billion. After several write-downs, AMD now believes ATI is worth less than half that. AMD took a US$684 million charge in the latest period to write down ATI’s value. That charge increased AMD’s loss by US$1.12 per share.
Excluding that and other one-time charges, AMD lost US$0.69 per share, which was wider than the US$0.54 per share predicted by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.
Sales fell 33 percent to US$1.16 billion, short of the average analyst estimate for US$1.2 billion.
The company also expects sales to fall again in the first quarter.
“It was definitely disappointing and worse than what we expected — AMD certainly has a challenging road ahead,” said Betsy Van Hees, an analyst with Caris & Company.
AMD has lost money in the last nine quarters, racking up nearly US$7 billion in losses in a grim stretch of its 40-year history.
To try and shore up its finances, AMD is in the throes of a major restructuring, the biggest piece of which is a plan to split off its factories into a separate company.
Other elements of AMD’s makeover include replacing its chief executive, announcing 3,300 job cuts over the last year, and selling nearly a fifth of the company to Mubadala Development Co, an investment arm of the Persian Gulf state of Abu Dhabi.
PLA MANEUVERS: Although Beijing has yet to formally announce military drills, its coast guard vessels have been spotted near and around Taiwan since Friday The Taiwanese military is on high alert and is closely monitoring the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) air and naval deployments after Beijing yesterday reserved seven airspace areas east of its Zhejiang and Fujian provinces through Wednesday. Beijing’s action was perceived as a precursor to a potential third “Joint Sword” military exercise, which national security experts said the PLA could launch following President William Lai’s (賴清德) state visits to the nation’s three Pacific allies and stopovers in Hawaii and Guam last week. Unlike the Joint Sword military exercises in May and October, when Beijing provided detailed information about the affected areas, it
CHINA: The activities come amid speculation that Beijing might launch military exercises in response to Lai’s recent visit to Pacific allies The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday said China had nearly doubled the number of its warships operating around the nation in the previous 24 hours, ahead of what security sources expect would be a new round of war games. China’s military activities come amid speculation Beijing might organize military drills around the nation in response to President William Lai’s (賴清德) recent visit to Pacific allies, including stops in Hawaii and Guam, a US territory. Lai returned from the week-long trip on Friday night. Beijing has held two rounds of war games around Taiwan this year, and sends ships and military planes
Five flights have been arranged to help nearly 2,000 Taiwanese tourists return home from Okinawa after being stranded due to cruise ship maintenance issues, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced yesterday. China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) have arranged five flights with a total of 748 additional seats to transport 1,857 passengers from the MSC Bellissima back to Taiwan, the ministry said. The flights have been scheduled for yesterday and today by the Civil Aviation Administration, with the cruise operator covering all associated costs. The MSC Bellissima, carrying 4,341 passengers, departed from Keelung on Wednesday last week for Okinawa,
US president-elect Donald Trump said he would “never say” if Washington is committed to defending Taiwan from China, but “I would prefer that they do not do it [ an attack],” adding that he has a “good relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). “I never say because I have to negotiate things, right?” Trump said in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press host Kristen Welker after saying he would not reveal his incoming administration’s stance on Taiwan’s defense in the event of an attack. Asked the question again, Trump, in a reference to China, said: “I would prefer that they
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