Intel Earnings Beat Wall Street Expectations; Outlook Solid

Intel (INTC), the world's largest microchip maker, reported better than expected results Tuesday, setting a positive tone for a spate of tech company earnings due in the next few weeks.

Intel said that third-quarter profit was $2.96 billion, or 52 cents a share, beating Wall Street expectations of 50 cents a share, on revenue of $11.1 billion, up from $9.4 billion one year ago.

"It looks fairly well in line with consensus, a little upside," Chris Caso, an analyst at Susquehanna Financial Group, toldReuters. "The revenue guidance for the December quarter is about in line with the Street, or a little better."

Intel's solid results ease some fears after the company reported in August that sluggish PC sales could hamper profits.

"Intel's third-quarter results set all-time records for revenue and operating income," said Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO. "These results were driven by solid demand from corporate customers, sales of our leadership products and continued growth in emerging markets."

Intel offered a fairly rosy outlook, saying revenue for the next quarter could hit $11 billion to $11.8 billion. That's in line with, or slightly above, the Street's forecast of $11.3 billion.

"Looking forward, we continue to see healthy worldwide demand for computing products of all types and are particularly excited about our next-generation processor, codenamed Sandy Bridge, and the many new designs around our Intel Atom processors in everything from the new Google TV products to a wide array of tablets based on Windows, Android and MeeGo operating systems," Otellini said.