By Eric J. Savitz
It’s been a terrible year for Intel shareholders, with the stock down more than 27% on concerns about how long it will take for the company to turn profitable in its still-nascent semiconductor foundry business.
But Citi analyst Christopher Danely expects better performance from the stock in the near-term. On Monday, he set an “upside 30-day catalyst watch” on shares. He kept his Neutral rating and $40 target price.
Danely noted that new data show that notebook computer shipments spiked 44% in March from February, a factor that he thinks provides potential upside to consensus estimates. Wall Street is expecting sales of $12.9 billion and profits of 15 cents a share when the company reports financial results on April 25.
Intel’s guidance for the quarter calls for revenue of $12.2 billion to $13.2 billion with a non-GAAP profit of 13 cents a share.
Last week, the research firm Canalys said first-quarter global PC shipments were up 3.2% from a year earlier with notebook shipments 4.2% higher. That represents the second consecutive quarter of PC shipment growth, after a two-year slide following a pandemic-era PC demand boom.
On Monday, Intel shares were 1.3% higher to $36.15.
Write to Eric J. Savitz at eric.savitz@barrons.com