Corporate PC, server demand fuel strong Intel Q2

Intel's second quarter shined as the company's earnings and revenue handily topped estimates. The company also delivered an upbeat outlook for the rest of the year and said the enterprise PC and server upgrade cycle is alive and well.

The chip giant reported net income of US$2.9 billion, or 51 cents a share, on revenue of US$10.8 billion, up 34 percent from a year ago (statement). Intel was expected to report second quarter earnings of 42 cents a share on revenue of US$10.25 billion, according to Thomson Reuters. Its strong results came amid multiple concerns about the economy and tech demand.

For the third quarter and 2010, Intel also was upbeat about its prospects. The company said revenue would be US$11.6 billion with gross margins of 67 percent. For the year, Intel raised its gross margin outlook to 66 percent, up from 64 percent before. Wall Street was only expecting Intel to report third quarter revenue of US$10.9 billion for the third quarter. In fact, the company's third quarter sales projection is in line for what Wall Street was expecting in the fourth quarter, historically the company's best.

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