Intel heads into its April 23 earnings with rising investor expectations , but the key question remains whether AI-driven CPU demand can offset ongoing margin weakness . Revenue Stable, But Margins Under Pressure Intel is expected to deliver Q1 revenue around US$12.4 billion , slightly above the midpoint of its guidance range. However, the real concern lies in profitability: Gross margin guided at 34.5% , down from 39.2% a year ago EPS near breakeven (~US$0.00) vs US$0.13 last year This highlights continued pressure from costs, utilisation, and product mix , despite improving demand signals. AI CPUs: A Key Growth Driver Intel’s near-term bullish case centers on AI-related CPU demand , particularly its Xeon processors. A key development is its partnership with Alphabet , which reinforces: Intel’s role in AI data centre infrastructure Growing demand for AI inference and general-purpose computing Investors will watch c...
KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 17): The FBM KLCI closed 0.03% or 0.4 points lower to 1574.50 as the broader market was mostly lukewarm today, in line with the region, on a lack of updates on the US-China trade deal.
The benchmark index saw 2.33 billion shares traded at RM1.88 billion today.
TA Securities Holdings Bhd senior technical analyst Steven Soo told theedgemarkets.com that there was a tug-of-war going on as the KLCI closed in negative territory, with bargain hunting going on for mega blue chips.
“Nevertheless, the index is still holding up pretty well, despite mixed signals on the external market,” he said over the phone.
Soo also noted some rotational play going on amongst investors in the market.
“The oil and gas sector continues to be focus, whereas the property sector remains underperforming, perhaps because the recently-tabled Budget 2020 was not enough to boost sentiment,” he added.
Regionally, most markets were also tepid, as hopes of a Sino-US trade deal waned amid a lack of concrete details, Reuters said.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index dropped 0.09%, while South Korea’s Kospi closed 0.23% lower.
In China, the Shanghai Composite Index ended 0.05% lower, though the Hang Seng was 0.69% higher.
Source: The Edge

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