AMD reports big rise in profits

published 22 January 2010

An anti-trust settlement may have helped the company on its way, but AMD has also released impressive results for the fourth quarter of 2009.

The chipmaker[/a] today reported revenue for the period reaching $1.6 billion, an increase of 18 per cent from the third quarter and a huge rise of 42 per cent compared to the same quarter in 2008.

Operating income was $1.28 billion but the company acknowledged that the vast majority of this figure was from the legal settlement with Intel.

"AMD's quarter marks another milestone in our transformation and underscores our growing momentum," said Dirk Meyer, AMD president and chief executive, in a statement.

"We enter 2010 having completed the transition to a fabless business model, reached a historic antitrust settlement, and made significant progress strengthening our balance sheet. Our innovative strategy for designing the world's most vivid digital experiences continues to generate demand."

Despite these positive results, the company isn't getting carried away and is expecting a seasonal drop in revenue for the first quarter of 2010.

Jennifer Scott is a former freelance journalist and currently political reporter for Sky News. She has a varied writing history, having started her career at Dennis Publishing, working in various roles across its business technology titles, including ITPro. Jennifer has specialised in a number of areas over the years and has produced a wealth of content for ITPro, focusing largely on data storage, networking, cloud computing, and telecommunications.

Most recently Jennifer has turned her skills to the political sphere and broadcast journalism, where she has worked for the BBC as a political reporter, before moving to Sky News.