Intel Corp (INTC)

[VeeCee]

Interesting read. The same data being read by two analysts so differently.
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6:14 PM ET
PC Data Look Less Bad for December, Smartphones Look Really Bad, Says Street
By Tiernan Ray

A number of Street observers today weighed in with thoughts on personal computer and mobile device markets, after reviewing the reported results of companies from the supply chain, with mixed implications for Intel (INTC), HP Inc. (HPQ), and drive makers Seagate Technology (STX) and Western Digital (WDC), but also fairly weak results for the entire smartphone and mobile segments.

RBC Capital Markets’s Amit Daryanani reviewed December data from Taiwanese companies, and also finds some PC bright spots, with notebook computer shipments up 7% from November’s level, to 11.2 million units, for the top four “original design manufacturers,” including Compal and Wistron that he follows, which was “well above seasonal trends.” But total sales for those four ODMs were down 16% from the prior-year period.

The results are a slight negative relative to expectations” for HP Inc., he writes.

“The improvement in PC shipments and positive U.S. growth could indicate lower than expected HPQ y/y revenue declines and better than expected FCF (CCC days).” The shipment data are “slightly negative” for Seagate and Western, with perhaps 119 million units shipped for the December quarter, he thinks, about what the two vendors have led the Street to expect.

As far as PC microprocessors, “Today’s results should be neutral to slightly negative for INTC,” he thinks.

Wells Fargo’s David Wong, however, draws the opposite conclusion regarding Intel, seeing possible upside in the notebook numbers: