Coronavirus clouds Intel outlook, despite short-term bump

Coronavirus clouds Intel outlook, despite short-term bump

Intel Corp on Thursday forecast second-quarter earnings below Wall Street views as it cited the cost of readying a new PC chip and said it could not make a forecast for the full year because of economic uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Libby Hogan reports.

Tech giant Intel says it has enjoyed a bump from homebound workers buying PCs but its warning that if the economy grows worse that short-term high could shift into a slide down.

Intel is one of the world's biggest producers of computer parts and smartphones.

And Thursday(April 23) it forecast second quarter earnings below views around Wall Street, also citing the cost its taken on to ready its new 'Tiger Lake' computer chips.

The company plans to sell those chips in third quarter.

Intel execs also tried to brace investors saying that because of economic uncertainty they couldn't make a forecast for the full year ahead.

After that news Intel shares fell 6% in extended trading.

Lockdown orders around the world have ripped through the industry for semiconductor devices including Intel's computer chips.

The supply chain that produces them across countries has been disrupted in countries like Malaysia.

Intel had to "temporarily pause" some projects due to local government limits at some sites but Intel CEO Bob Swan says so far, factories have largely have been able to meet demand.

The question is whether it can recoup the money it's now pouring into those new Tiger Lake chips by selling them in the uncertain times to come.

Company execs say the Tiger Lake chip will be in 50 different laptops slated for sale during the 2020 holidays but declined to forecast sales that far ahead.