INSTANT VIEW: Intel decides not to give detailed outlook

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Intel Corp said it will not provide detailed financial guidance due to economic uncertainty, but gave a first-quarter revenue figure for "planning" purposes that was below average Wall Street expectations.

The world's largest chip maker also reported fourth-quarter earnings per share of 4 cents, meeting Wall Street's lowered expectations after it issued a revenue warning last week.

Shares of Intel initially edged lower in extended trading, but then recovered to trade up 2 percent at $13.58.

COMMENTARY:

EDWIN MOK, ANALYST, NEEDHAM

"They were playing it cautious by not officially providing guidance. The big surprise was gross margins, which they guided for the low 40s. I'm concerned that the company is not letting up on its start-up investments in the face of the economic slowdown."

HANS MOSESMANN, MANAGING DIRECTOR, RAYMOND JAMES

"The results were in line with the company's preannouncement and the outlook in terms of the first quarter sales decline was okay. What is unnerving is that they're not giving a formal forecast for revenues."

"The projected gross margin decline is so bad that it's actually kind of good because it is likely to improve as the year proceeds."

PATRICK YANG, ANALYST, WEDBUSH MORGAN

"I think that Intel is good in a couple of ways People were expecting very, very ugly numbers. Intel delivered mixed numbers, slightly better than the bears expected."

"It was probably a negative for gross margins, but it's good to get the negative things out of the way."

"A question is what they expect to do in terms of the under-utilization charges. The inventory grew ... to almost 90 days. We haven't seen that since Q1 of last year. The inventory levels are high. The question is how they plan on working down that inventory. There may be price cuts and a lowering of margins to start stimulating demand. People just aren't buying things right now, the mood is very pessimistic."

"They're looking to work that off by slowing down factories but you can't turn off factories immediately."

JOHN DRYDEN, ANALYST, CHARTER EQUITY RESEARCH

"Everything was in line with the second preannouncement. I'd expect they wouldn't give much full-year guidance for 2009, based on the economic uncertainty."

"The first quarter gross margin outlook was worse than expected and the internal first quarter revenue outlook was below consensus, but not below the most bearish expectations on the street."

ROBERT FRANCELLO, HEAD OF EQUITY TRADING, APEX CAPITAL IN SAN FRANCISCO

"People were expecting the worst."

"Hopefully we'll be able to shrug off the guidance and the release will be out of the way and we'll be able to move forward and be a little more positive."

ANDY NG, EQUITY ANALYST, MORNINGSTAR

"Obviously the slowdown hampered them during the quarter on the gross margin line."

"The outlook for the first quarter was what everyone was trying to look for. Obviously there's a lot of uncertainty there now. It definitely doesn't provide comfort, but the thing to keep in mind is: this is a very cyclical industry, and it's seen its fair share of downturns and upturns."

"Intel's a large company. They will withstand this downturn, so eventually when the inevitable upturn comes, Intel will do much better."

DOUG FREEDMAN, ANALYST, AMERICAN TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH

"How long we have to absorb under-utilization is the question. The low 40s is going to disappointment some people. How long they'll keep growth margins down is definitely a concern.

(Reporting by Robert MacMillan and Rodrigo Campos in New York, and David Lawsky and Sue Zeidler in Los Angeles. Compiled by Tiffany Wu)