Instant View: Intel's fourt-quarter disappointment affirms poor PC outlook

Intel Corp's forecast fourth-quarter revenue and margins below Wall Street's expectations, as the personal computer industry weathers a shaky global economy and a persistent shift by consumers toward tablets.

International Business Machines reported revenues below analysts' targets with technology spending held back by a waning global economy, helping send its shares lower.

Commentary

Intel:

DOUG FREEDMAN, ANALYST, RBC CAPITAL

"The gross margins and the earnings for next quarter are below expectations, largely on lower gross margins from under-utilization of the factory, and some pull-in of some startup costs.

"Some people will be disappointed by the fact that the datacenter business didn't perform better. There was some thought that the data centers would continue to do well."

(Reporting By Jennifer Saba in Los Angeles, Malathi Nayak and Poornima Gupta in San Francisco, Jim Finkle in Boston)