AMD posts first profit in 13 quarters

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AMD posts first profit in 13 quarters

By Jon Stokes | Last updated about 2 hours ago

Thirteen, it turns out, is a lucky number for AMD—that's how many quarters it has been since the company last turned a profit. And this quarter, thanks to a combination of the sizable Intel settlement and a major rebound in the PC market, the struggling chipmaker is finally, at long last, back in the black.

AMD's revenue jumped 42 percent year-over-year to $1.626 billion, handily beating Intel's (also impressive) 28 percent jump. The chipmaker's quarterly profit, $1.288 billion, is mostly thanks to the $1.224 settlement with Intel.

"We enter 2010 having completed the transition to a fabless business model, reached a historic antitrust settlement, and made significant progress strengthening our balance sheet," Dirk Meyer, AMD president and CEO, said in a statement. "Our innovative strategy for designing the world's most vivid digital experiences continues to generate demand."

The entire computer industry was betting on the end of 2009 and the Windows 7 launch to restart the long-delayed upgrade cycle, and that bet appears to have paid off. AMD also successfully launched its new ATI GPU line this past year, putting it comfortably alone at the top of the graphics heap. NVIDIA, meanwhile, continues to delay the launch of its competing part, leaving ATI to rule the roost all by itself.

http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2010/01/amd-posts-first-profit-in-13-quarters.ars

Woo, go AMD.  Even without the settlement with Intel, they'd have made a slim profit, too.

Let's hope it stays this way through 2010 now.