Intel Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2021 Financial Results
Intel today reported fourth-quarter and full-year results for 2021, showing that Intel had the highest quarterly and full-year revenue ever, driven by strong demand in the PC and server markets. However, this does not cover up Intel’s current problems, with gross margins and profits declining. At the same time, there are some worrying signs, such as the number of Intel PC platforms will continue to decline due to supply chain problems.
Intel’s total revenue for the fourth quarter of 2021 came in at $20.5 billion, beating expectations and growing 3% year over year. Total revenue for the full year 2021 was $79 billion, up from $77.9 billion last year. Fourth-quarter 2021 EPS was $1.13, down 21% year over year; full-year EPS was $4.86, down 2% year over year. It is worth noting that since Intel has sold its NAND flash memory and storage business to SK Hynix, related items will no longer be included in the report.
In the fourth quarter of 2021, Client Computing Group (CCG) revenue was $10.1 billion, down 7% year-over-year; Data Center Group (DCG) revenue was $7.3 billion, up 20% year-over-year; Internet of Things Group (IoTG) revenue was $1.1 billion, up 36% year-over-year; Mobileye’s revenue was $356 million, up 7% year over year; Non-Volatile Storage Solutions Group (NSG) revenue was $1.0 billion, down 18% year over year; Programmable Solutions Group (PSG) revenue was $484 million, up 15% year over year.
However, in terms of gross profit margins, which Intel has always focused on, the situation is not very good. Intel’s gross profit margin in the fourth quarter of 2021 was 53.6%, down 3.2% year-on-year, and the gross profit margin for the full year was 55.4%, down 0.6% from 2020. Intel said that because the technology of the 10nm process node is much more complex than the 14nm process node, the cost has risen and it cannot reach the gross profit margin level of about 60% in recent years. Profits have also been affected. Intel’s fourth-quarter net profit was $4.6 billion, a sharp decline from $5.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2020, a year-on-year decrease of 21%.
Intel expects revenue of $18.3 billion in the first quarter of 2022, unchanged from 2021. In addition, Intel’s gross margin in the first quarter of 2022 will fall further to 49%, down from 52% in the first quarter of 2021, due to higher costs for new products and possible upfront payments.
