Features

SANTA CLARA — Giant semiconductor manufacturer Intel Corp. eased past Wall Street expectations for its fourth-quarter earnings, but warned of an uncertain near future given the slowing economy. 

Helped by strong investment gains, Intel reported income for the quarter ending Dec. 30 of $2.2 billion, or 32 cents per share. Excluding acquisition-related costs, income was $2.6 billion, or 38 cents per share, up from $2.4 billion, or 36 cents per share, in the year-ago period, the company said Tuesday. 

Analysts were expecting comparable results this quarter of 37 cents per share, according to a survey by First Call/Thomson Financial. 

Revenue for the quarter was $8.70 billion, compared to $8.21 billion in the year-ago period. 

Shares of Intel finished regular trading down 75 cents to $31.38 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. In after-hours trading, shares crept up to $31.94. 

“This was a year of record annual revenue and earnings; yet, slowing economic conditions impacted fourth-quarter growth and are causing near-term uncertainty,” said Craig R. Barrett, president and chief executive officer. 

As a result, Intel officials said they expect first quarter revenue to decline by about 15 percent from the fourth quarter, though they maintained a positive outlook. 

“We’re trying to invest to ensure that we can increase the differentiation from our competitors,” Intel chief financial officer Andy Bryant said in an interview. “But when the economy turns up, we’ll have the products that consumers will want.” 

Intel, which serves as a bellwether of the general health of the personal computer industry, had joined other PC makers in December in lowering its earnings forecasts, saying poor PC sales worldwide would lead to flat growth for the fourth quarter. 

“They’re going to be held up by the same downside of the economy that PC makers are struggling with,” said industry analyst Jack Gold of the Meta Group. “The issue is, what else do they (Intel) have on the horizon to make up for the downturn in PCs? The answer is: not a whole lot.” 

Added analyst Jonathan Joseph of Salomon Smith Barney: “The outlook is fairly somber. But it does tell us something we already know – that the PC market is fairly weak.” 

On the Net: www.intc.com