Rambus Gets Boost From New Intel Pact

Rambus Inc. shares surged 9% after the designer of computer memory reached a five-year patent-sharing pact with chip-making giant Intel Corp. and raised its profit estimate for the quarter.

Under the agreement that broadens and extends a 1996 deal, Intel will pay Rambus $10 million each quarter for access to its patent portfolio. Rambus also will have access to some Intel patents, the companies said.

Intel’s fastest chips use a Rambus design that accelerates the flow of data between a microprocessor and memory chips and is more expensive than other memory formats. Intel has supported designs that compete with RDRAM in some computers, which sparked concerns among some investors that Intel might abandon support for the Rambus format.

Los Altos, Calif.-based Rambus said it now expects profit of 6 cents a share in its fourth quarter, a penny higher than the average of analysts polled by Thomson Financial/First Call.

Rambus shares jumped 48 cents to close at $6.65, while Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel fell $2.48 to $23.59, both on Nasdaq.