Chip Makers AMD and Broadcom Narrow Losses on Strong Demand

Computer chip makers Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Broadcom Corp. posted narrower third-quarter losses Thursday, helped by stronger demand.

Sunnyvale, Calif.-based AMD lost $31 million, or 9 cents a share, down from $254 million, or 74 cents a share, in the third quarter of 2002. Revenue rose to $954 million from $508 million.

AMD is the biggest rival to industry giant Intel Corp. for computer microprocessors and flash memory chips, or chips that retain data when devices such as cell phones are turned off.

“Sales were up on a global basis reflecting increased demand in each of our major businesses and all geographic regions,” Chief Financial Officer Robert J. Rivet said.

AMD’s results “reflect pretty solid consumer demand, and probably some corporate demand,” said Shane Rau, a semiconductor analyst with technology market research firm IDC. “But it’s too early to say the elusive corporate refresh has arrived.”

Rau said AMD appeared to have overcome problems of a year ago, when it shipped processors to Latin America and Asia but was unable to sell them and had to buy them back.

Sales were spurred by AMD’s new 64-bit PC microprocessor, which crunches twice the amount of data that standard 32-bit chips handle. AMD is the only maker of 64-bit chips for PCs running the Windows operating system. IBM Corp. makes 64-bit chips for Apple Computer Inc. computers running the Macintosh operating system.

AMD said it had shipped tens of thousands of Athlon 64 chips in the third quarter and hundreds of thousands in the fourth quarter.

Shares of AMD rose 30 cents to $13.96 on the New York Stock Exchange. They gained an additional $1.24 in after-hours trading.

Irvine-based Broadcom, a maker of chips for high-speed Internet access and wireless communication, said its third-quarter loss was $6.3 million, or 2 cents a share, down from a loss of $183 million, or 68 cents a share, a year ago.

Sales rose 47% to $425 million from $290 million last year.

“New product momentum in enterprise networking combined with continued momentum in a number of our new end markets enabled Broadcom to post record third-quarter revenue,” CEO Alan E. “Lanny” Ross said.

Broadcom shares rose 23 cents to $32.68 on Nasdaq. They gained an additional 47 cents in after-hours trading.