Intel's first-quarter net profit falls but beats Street

Intel Corp's first-quarter net profit fell, but beat Wall Street's estimates as the chipmaker wrestles with shrinking demand for personal computers.

The chipmaker reported first-quarter net earnings of $1.947 billion, or 38 cents a share, compared with $2.045 billion, or 40 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter. Analysts on average expected 37 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

First-quarter revenue was $12.76 billion, compared with $12.58 billion in the year-ago quarter, Intel said in a statement on Tuesday. Analysts had expected $12.814 billion.

Intel forecast revenue of $13 billion, plus or minus $500 million, for the second quarter, which ends in June. Analysts had expected $12.957 billion on average.

The company also expects a full-year gross margin of 61 percent, plus or minus a few percentage points. That is 1 percentage point higher than Intel's previous forecast.

Intel shares rose 1.74 percent in extended trading after closing up 0.80 percent at $26.77 on Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Noel Randewich. Editing by Andre Grenon)