AMD Posts First Profit in Three Years
Get by with a little help from your friends, huh?
The year 2009 was a busy but good one for AMD. The company won a huge victory when the European Antitrust Commission found Intel guilty of anticompetitive practices and fined the company $1.45 billion. Though AMD didn't received a share of the fine, the case laid the foundations for a similar case in the United States. The FTC is still investigating Intel, but late last year, the company settled with AMD, resolving all legal disputes. The settlement saw Intel hand over $1.25 billion in damages and it was that money that helped AMD post its first profit in three years.
AMD yesterday posted a Q4 revenue of $1.65 billion, an increase of 18 percent compared to the previous quarter and 42 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2008. Net income attributable to AMD common stockholders was $1.178 billion, or $1.52 per share. AMD reported an operating income of $1.288 billion.
Check out the full release for all the nitty-gritty details.

We all know Intel was sitting fat and lazy until AMD started kicking their asses and woke up the sleeping giant. Competition is good for all and keeps prices down. Gratz AMD!
Now if you only we could get some good competition for the government...
Lol good for them, congratz AMD, keep it up!
Doesn't intel make this much in a week?
Congratz AMD.
We all know Intel was sitting fat and lazy until AMD started kicking their asses and woke up the sleeping giant. Competition is good for all and keeps prices down. Gratz AMD!
Now if you only we could get some good competition for the government...
If Intel had not encroached there marketplace
If nVidia had released a good graphics card
etc etc etc
The only thing to look at now is future performance.
AMD no longer has Intel running anti-competative and ATI has current graphics dominance. So if the next year's profits are also increased it will be the true sign of strength.
Don't expect the competition to take it lying down though.
Intel will simply hit the market place with CPUs that are more powerful and consumers will vote with their feet.
Big ask but if nVidia can pull their finger out and release Fermi and get back to being the alpha dog then again, consumers will vote with their feet.
AMD need to see this as an opportunity to boost themselves higher and higher. Pour every penny into R&D and get a CPU that beats Intel for once and steal nVidia's thunder with the HD6000.
I would find it very intresting to see how much profit was made by which section (Ati, CPU's chipsets lawsuits ^^....)and how much money each section consumed.
Things look cheerful too for the coming year:
-ATI still has a few months market hegemony left.
-Even when Fermi launches, it will probably be very expensive and scarcely available. In the budget segment, where the majority of sales are made, they'll probably retain a healthy lead, same for the mid-end segment.
-AMD is finally out of the black hole called Global Foundries.
-CPU's are looking grim atm, but for early 2011 new architectures are planned that could put them back on stage. AMD also remains a great choice in the budget segment.
Also, litte typo here : Though AMD didn't received
All great points. I especially agree with what you said about Global Foundries and the licensing changes that have occurred. I don't think people realize what a load off AMD this is as it will allow to spend more on research and development on architecture rather that fabrication. I have always loved AMD, but they need to pick it up in the performance segment a little more for me to become a fanboy
Yes, but it is not the budget it does on it is the income statement as non-revenue income.