AMD makes loss, but profits from it

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) reported its third quarter results. It made a profit. Although on paper it made a net loss of $128 million, things are on the up.

Its revenues for the quarter amounted to $1.396 billion and AMD said the quarter increased sequentially by 18 percent, although compared to 2008, its revenues fell by 22 percent.

Dirk Meyer, AMD’s CEO, said: “Strong demand for our product and platform offerings combined with disciplined execution resulted in AMD Product Company achieving profitability in the third quarter.”

He put that down to growth in CPU and graphics unit shipments. “Growth in microprocessor and graphics unit shipments drove an 18 percent sequential revenue increase, while improved factory utilization rates, higher microprocessor average selling price and an increase in 45 nanometer product shipments resulted in a gross margin improvement from the third quarter.”

AMD’s gross margin was 42 percent in the quarter. The picture remains complicated because AMD span off Global Foundries. We think it made a profit although it reported a net loss.