US computer chip group Intel beat Wall Street's expectations with a 29 percent year-on-year net profit increase when it published Q1 earnings late on Tuesday.
 
The reported net income was $3.16bn or 56 percent per share compared to $2.44bn or 43 percent the previous year.
 
Intel saw a 25 percent rise in revenue to £12.8bn from $10.3bn a year ago, surpassing its own predictions of $12.3bn and the $11.9bn forecast by analysts.
 
The company generated an estimated $4bn in cash from operations, paid cash dividends of $994m and used $4bn to repurchase 189 million shares of common stock, the company said in a statement.
 
Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO said: “The first-quarter revenue was an all-time record for Intel fueled by double digit annual revenue growth in every major product segment and across all geographies.”
 
He added:  “These outstanding results, combined with our guidance for the second quarter, position us to achieve greater than 20 percent annual revenue growth.”