AMD forecast revenue above expectations as it struggles against rival Intel in a lackluster PC market.
AMD posted first-quarter revenue of $1.59 billion, down from $1.61 billion in the year-ago period. It estimated second-quarter revenue would rise 3 percent from the previous quarter, plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Analysts had expected AMD to post $1.56 billion in revenue for the first quarter and $1.59 billion for the current quarter.
AMD had a net loss of $590 million, or 80 cents a share, compared to a net profit of $510 million, or 68 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings were 12 cents per share, beating expectations of 9 cents.
"AMD delivered solid results in the first quarter as we remain focused on improving our execution, delivering innovative products, and building a company around a strategy to deliver strong cash flow and earnings growth," said Rory Read, AMD president and CEO. "A complete top-to-bottom introduction of new APU offerings, combined with ample product supply resulting from continued progress with our manufacturing partners, positions us to win and grow."
During Q1, AMD announced and began shipping the follow-on to its notebook platform "Brazos," its bestselling platform ever. The new notebook platform, codenamed "Brazos 2.0," delivers improved performance, extended battery life and many new features. Systems based on "Brazos 2.0" are expected to be available in the second quarter of this year, AMD says.
AMD also ramped volume production of its second generation A-Series performance APU, codenamed "Trinity," in anticipation of global notebook availability from OEMs in the second quarter. AMD claims that "Trinity" delivers twice the performance-per-watt compared with AMD's current generation A-Series APU.
"We are successfully ramping production of Trinity APUs as our customers are preparing to launch a record number of AMD notebook designs beginning this quarter," said Rory Read, chief executive officer of AMD, told financial analysts.
Graphics segment revenue was flat sequentially and decreased 7 percent year-over-year. GPU revenue was up in a seasonally down quarter, due to higher improved desktop GPU ASP in the channel, offset by seasonally lower game console royalty revenue. The year-over-year decrease was primarily driven by lower demand for desktop and mobile graphics.
AMD also reached a milestone with worldwide availability of its full line of next generation 28 nm AMD Radeon HD 7000 Series desktop GPUs in less than three months.
"We were able to meet customer demand [for AMD Radeon HD 7000 "Southern Islands" chips made using 28nm in the first quarter. The products are good, the demand is strong. We would like to have more access to the upside volume, but we have met pretty much all the demand in the first quarter," said Thomas Seiffert, chief financial officer of AMD.
AMD has already announced price drops on HD 7770, HD 7950, and HD 7970 products. The Radeon HD 7970 is now priced at $479, while the Radeon HD 7950 is proced at $399. In addition, the Radeon HD 7770 GHz edition graphics cards will now be available at the sub-$150 spot, as low as $139.