Intel (INTC) is scheduled to report results of its fourth fiscal quarter after the market close on January 24, with a conference call scheduled for 5:00 pm ET. What to watch for:
1. GUIDANCE: Along with its last report, Intel guided for Q4 adjusted earnings per share of $1.22 on revenue of roughly $19B. At the time, analysts were expecting the company to report Q4 EPS of $1.09 on revenue of $18.39B, but analysts heeded the guidance and raised the consensus to $1.22 and $19.01B, respectively. Meanwhile, Intel in its last report raised its fiscal 2018 adjusted EPS outlook to $4.53 and its revenue guidance to $71.2B. Analysts expect the company to report FY18 EPS of $4.53 on revenue of $71.2B.
2. BUYBACK INCREASE: On November 15, Intel announced that its board of directors approved a $15B increase in its authorized stock repurchase program. The company had $4.7B remaining under its existing repurchase authorization as of September 29, 2018, it said at the time.
3. CEO SEARCH: Last week, Bloomberg reported that Intel is seeking to fill its vacant CEO role before the company's January 24 earnings report. The role has been vacant for over six months, and Sanjay Jha, Anand Chandrasekher, Renee James are no longer involved as candidates for the position, the report said. Meanwhile, Axios reported last week that Johny Srouji, Apple's (AAPL) senior VP of hardware technologies, is on Intel's CEO candidate list. Intel has yet to announce that someone has been named to the role.
4. IM FLASH JV: On January 14, Micron (MU) announced that it was exercising its right to acquire Intel's interest in the parties' joint venture, IM Flash Technologies. Micron said at the time that the transaction will close on a date "in the next six to 12 months to be selected by Intel." At the time of close, Micron expects to pay approximately $1.5B in cash for the transaction. The payment will end Intel's noncontrolling interest in IM Flash and eliminate IM Flash member debt on Micron's balance sheet, the company said.
5. GARTNER PC SHIPMENTS: Global PC shipments totaled 68.6M units in Q4, a 4.3% dip from last year, according to preliminary results by Gartner. For the year, 2018 PC shipments exceeded 259.4M units, a 1.3% decline from the previous year, Gartner said. Intel noted in its third quarter report that "stronger-than-expected" customer demand across the company's PC and data-centric businesses continued in the quarter.
Intel
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Apple
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Micron
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