Intel raises annual forecast as Twitter beats expectations

Snap reports gains in quarterly revenue and daily active users

Chipmaker Intel raised its annual revenue forecast on Thursday, focusing on its dual strategy of increasing in-house production as well as outsourcing to catch up with rivals.

Intel, one of the one of the few remaining companies in the processor chip industry that both designs and manufactures its own chips, has been able to weather the supply chain woes better than most.

Rivals such as Advanced Micro Devices that outsource production to foundries have been impacted more than Intel due to shortage of chip components and raw materials.

A shift in business working models toward cloud and artificial intelligence-based operations due to the pandemic has also increased demand for processors used in data centres and PCs.

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Intel said it now expects annual adjusted revenue of $73.5 billion (€62 billion), compared with its previous forecast of $72.5 billion and analyst expectations of $72.80 billion, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

The company expects adjusted third-quarter revenue of about $18.2 billion, above estimates of $18.09 billion. Intel employs 4,900 people in the State.

Also on Thursday Twitter reported higher revenue growth than Wall Street had expected, as the social media platform rolled out ad targeting improvements and said changes by Apple to keep iPhone user data private had hit ad revenue less than anticipated.

Twitter shares rose 7 per cent to $75 in trading after the bell. The San Francisco-based company now expects headcount and total costs and expenses to grow at least 30 per cent for the full year, up from its previous guidance of 25 per cent, as the company invests in its engineering and product teams, however.

Snap reported gains in quarterly revenue and daily active users increases that exceeded analysts’ estimates, as investments in content and creative tools lured young users and the advertisers trying to reach them.

Second quarter sales more than doubled to $982 million, the company said on Thursday. That dwarfed the $846.9 million average analysts’ estimate. Snapchat, the mobile app for sending disappearing messages and watching video content, had 293 million daily active users in the second quarter, beating analysts’ expectations for 290.72 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Snap has benefited from a digital advertising and e-commerce market boom during the pandemic as companies of all sizes turned to social media platforms to reach customers who were stuck at home to avoid the spread of Covid-19. Like its social media rivals, the company has also been investing in compensating creators on its app who post entertaining videos, giving users a reason to return to the app frequently. – Bloomberg/Reuters