Intel Reports First-Quarter 2021 Financial Results | TechPowerUp Intel Corporation today reported first-quarter 2021 financial results. "Intel delivered strong first-quarter results driven by exceptional demand for our leadership products and outstanding execution by our team. The response to our new IDM 2.0 strategy has been extraordinary, our product roadmap is gaining momentum, and we're rapidly progressing our plans with re-invigorated focus on innovation and execution," said Pat Gelsinger, Intel CEO. "This is a pivotal year for Intel. We are setting our strategic foundation and investing to accelerate our trajectory and capitalize on the explosive growth in semiconductors that power our increasingly digital world."
First-quarter 2021 GAAP operating margin, net income, tax rate, and EPS results reflect the impact of a charge related to VLSI litigation. Intel strongly disagrees with the jury's verdict in March and intends to appeal. In the first quarter, the company generated $5.5 billion in cash from operations, paid dividends of $1.4 billion, and used $2.3 billion to repurchase stock.
First-quarter revenue exceeded January guidance by $1.1 billion led by continued, strong PC demand. PC unit volumes were up 38 percent YoY, and notebook volumes set a new Intel record. The company also saw initial recovery of Enterprise and Government sales in the Data Center Group (DCG). Intel also achieved better-than-expected revenue in Internet of Things Group (IOTG) and Mobileye, and Mobileye set a new revenue record in the quarter.
In the first quarter of 2021, Intel shipped new CPU products and announced key customer design wins. The company also completed the CEO transition to Pat Gelsinger who unveiled Intel's new, differentiated IDM 2.0 strategy for manufacturing, innovation and product leadership.
Business Highlights
- Announced new IDM 2.0 Strategy, including $20 billion capacity expansion plans in Arizona and new Intel Foundry Services.
- Introduced new client processor families including: 11th Gen Intel Core vPro platform, N-series 10-nanometer Pentium Silver and Celeron processors, 11th Gen Intel Core H-series mobile processors and 11th Gen Intel Core S-series desktop processors (code-named "Rocket Lake-S").
- Launched new 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors (code-named "Ice Lake"), including new network-optimized "N-SKUs".
- Achieved Amazon Web Services High Performance Computing Competency status.
- Announced 5G network collaboration with Google Cloud.
- Intel's Habana AI accelerators and Intel Xeon Scalable processors selected by University of California at San Diego to power new Voyager super computer.
- Shipped new Intel Agilex FPGAs with heterogeneous integration and advanced 3D packaging.
- Mobileye's self-driving system, Mobileye Drive, will be the autonomous "driver" for Udelv's next-generation electric self-driving delivery vehicle.
Business Outlook
Intel's guidance for the second quarter and full year includes both GAAP and non-GAAP estimates. Our Non-GAAP measures exclude the NAND memory business, which is subject to a previously-announced pending sale, as well as certain other items. Reconciliations between GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures are included below.
In my opinion the pandemic has driven PC demand up which has boosted Intel's profits.
