Intel Corp has announced third quarter figures so good that its shares jumped $4.375 to $112 in after hours trading on Monday night. Earnings per share were $1.48 in the third quarter, which compared with a deeply embarrassing consensus Street estimate of $1.25 a share. During the period, shipments of microprocessors and chip sets set a new record, and in contrast to the industry as a whole, its book-to-bill ratio was greater than 1.0. It says We are delighted with the excellent acceptance of Pentium and Pentium Pro processor-based personal computers and servers, which has produced a stronger third quarter than we had originally expected, but then drawing a complete veil – iron curtain would be more accurate – over any hint of a suggestion of how the fourth quarter might be looking, citing the looming Proposition 211: Intel does not intend to assume the risk of making forward-looking statements concerning the company’s business outlook. The firm promises that it will review its policy after the proposal has been voted on on November 5.
