AMD 4th-Quarter Loss Widens on Soft PC Demand

    Advanced Micro Devices Inc.'s (AMD) fourth-quarter loss widened as the chip maker continued to struggle with soft demand for personal computers.

    For the current quarter, the company expects revenue to decrease roughly 9% from the fourth quarter, indicating around $1.05 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters recently projected revenue of $1.11 billion.

    AMD, which makes chips for PCs and servers, has seen its bottom line suffer from a shift in consumer preference away from PCs in favor of tablets and smartphones. The company has also acknowledged company-specific missteps, and has lost market share to competitors like Intel Corp. (INTC).

    Chief Executive Rory Read said Tuesday that AMD is focused on diversifying its product portfolio along with the changing PC environment.

    In a restructuring effort intended to cut costs, AMD has laid off workers. The chip maker also agreed last month to pay $320 million to manufacturing partner Globalfoundries Inc. to reduce purchases of processed semiconductor wafers. Globalfoundries was formed partly from the spinoff of AMD's former operations in Germany.

    For the fourth quarter, AMD reported a loss of $473 million, or 63 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $177 million, or 24 cents a share. The latest quarter included a net restructuring charge of $90 million, while the year-earlier quarter included a $209 million charge reflecting a write-down on AMD's stake in Globalfoundries and other one-time costs. Excluding these and other items, the per-share loss was 14 cents, from a profit of 19 cents a year earlier. Analysts were expecting a loss of 20 cents a share.

    Revenue fell 32% to $1.16 billion, in line with the company's October projection of roughly $1.1 billion to $1.21 billion.

    Gross margin, a closely watched figure in the chip-making industry, narrowed sharply to 15.4% from 45.7%.

    In the company's computing solutions business--its core PC-supplying unit--revenue fell 37% as the unit swung to an operating loss.

    Rival Intel reported last week that its profit fell 27%, the latest sign that PC industry remains weak, despite hopes that the introduction of Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT) new Windows 8 operating system would boost demand.

    AMD's shares rose 2% after hours to $2.50. As of Tuesday's close, the stock had fallen 23% in the past six months.

    Write to Kristin Jones at