Intel's profit sum $ 2.6 billion in the fourth quarter, up 6%

SÃO PAULO-Intel, the world's largest manufacturer of semiconductors, ended the fourth quarter of 2013 with a net income of $ 2.6 billion, representing growth of 6% over the same period of the previous year. The net profit per share was $ 0.51, up from $ 0.48 per share a year earlier. The result was slightly below the expected by analysts.
According to data released earlier, the company reached the prescription period of $ 13.8 billion, growth of 3% in comparison with the same period in 2012.
The recipe was a little above the average of the projections of analysts, which was $ 13.7 billion, according to FactSet. Earnings per share, however, was a penny on the dollar below the average of the projections of analysts, which was $ 0,52 for the period.
The company's shares recorded drop of 3.64% in the negotiations after the closing of the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, listed at $ 25.70.
Among analysts, there was fear that the result of the company were very weak because of the drop in sales of PCs worldwide. The company reported in report has achieved a degree of stability in the computer business. Sales of chips for such equipment had a high of 2% in comparison with the fourth quarter of 2012, starting at $ 8.6 billion.
The manufacturer also showed increased sales of components for data centers. The recipe in the area grew 8% to $ 3 billion. Already sales of products for embedded systems and mobile devices had an advance of 9%, to $ 1.1 billion.
In the fourth quarter, Intel also improved gross margin, a gauge considered important by the analysts for semiconductor companies. The indicator rose 4 percentage points to 62.0%.
Result in the year
In the year 2013, the company recorded net income of $ 9.6 billion, a drop of 13% from 2013. Revenue in the year presented a reduction of 1%, to $ 52.7 billion.
For 2014, the company projects a recipe similar to that recorded last year, and a profit margin of around 60%. The company also projected investments of $ 11 billion in the year, and may be higher or lower at $ 500 million.