AMD third quarter beats analyst expectations

AMD surpassed industry expectations in the third quarter

AMD has managed to narrow its losses in the third quarter of 2008, and has posted results considered "impressive" given the growing competition challenges faced by the chipmaker.

The company reported a loss of $67m (£38.7m) for the third quarter, compared with a loss of $396m (£228.7m) during the same period a year ago. Revenue rose to $1.78bn (£1.02bn) from $1.56bn (£901m) in 2007. Analysts had expected that the firm would post losses of at least $1.48bn (£855m).

AMD attributed the gains to increased shipments of its quad-core Opteron and Phenom chips, a new Turion-based notebook platform and ATI graphics products.

However, despite receiving plaudits from the industry, AMD does not expect its fourth-quarter results to outperform those reported yesterday.

AMD chief executive Dirk Meyer said in a call with analysts that the upcoming period "does not have its usual strength", adding that the firm is being " cautious" about forward-looking plans based on the current economic climate.

Earlier this week, Intel chief executive Paul Otellini reported record third-quarter results and said that AMD's restructuring does not change the fundamentals of the business.

"From my perspective nothing has changed," he said. "You still have someone having to build the capital and build products and sell them to someone else. The food chain hasn't changed; there's just one more person in the chain looking for a profit."