Intel seeks boost from laptop chips
 

Boosted by strong demand for laptop computer chips, Intel Corp. is anticipated to report its earnings climbed by 9% in the third quarter over the year-ago period.

The world's largest chip maker will deliver its results after the closing bell today. In early trading Tuesday, the stock rose 37 cents, or 1.5%, to $23.83. Before the market opened, Intel (INTC) was upgraded to above average from average by Caris & Company.

Wall Street is looking for Intel to earn 33 cents a share, up 9% from the year-ago period, on revenue of $9.92 billion, up 17%, according to analysts polled by Thomson First Call.

In its midquarter update Sept. 8, Intel tightened its sales forecast to a range of $9.8 billion to $10 billion, compared with its previous forecast of $9.6 billion to $10.2 billion.

Surging sales of laptops has helped Intel sidestep weaker sales of desktop personal computers this year. Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel commands more than 80% of the market for computer chips.

All year the chip giant has struggled to meet demand for so-called chipsets even though its factories are running at full capacity. Chipsets are a group of chips that work together to send data from the microprocessor to other parts of the computer.

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