Intel (INTC) is supposed to be a growth stock. It has been winning its market share battle with rival AMD (AMD). Its shares are up 36% in the last year.
But, it may also be one of the safest stocks to own in a rapidly falling market. The company has about 80% of the global x85 market. That means it dominants chip supplies for both PCs and servers. The business may be slowing in the US, but in places like India and China, sales of these products are in a rapid growth cycle.
Intel is also beginning to create low-power, low-complexity chips. These will end up in smartphones that run Windows and other operating systems. They could be a very important part of the growing global use of WiMax and city-wide WiFi.
Intel has about $9 billion in cash and marketable securities and very little debt. It has long-term investments that it carries on its balance sheet for almost $4 billion.
Last quarter, the company’s revenue rose from $8 billion in the period a year ago to almost $8.7 billion and operating profit rose from $1.072 billion to $1.35 billion.
Safe.
Douglas A. McIntyre
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