Advanced Micro Devices and Intel are expected to report fourth-quarter results this week

Advanced Micro Devices and Intel are expected to report fourth-quarter results this week that will likely top their recently increased guidance as holiday sales of personal computers were not as grim as most had expected, analysts said. The two, longtime rivals in microprocessors that are the brains of personal computers, raised their quarterly guidance on Dec. 6, with Intel, the world's biggest chipmaker, noting that it was having difficulty shipping enough Pentium 4 chips to customers amid stronger-than-expected demand. The fourth quarter, paced by holiday sales, is typically the industry's strongest. Revenues in the first quarter usually decline slightly on a sequential basis, although some analysts are forecasting Intel's revenues to be flat to slightly up in the current quarter. Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel on Dec. 6 indicated it saw fourth-quarter revenues that could even exceed the high end of its previously forecast range of $6.2 billion to $6.8 billion. On the same day, Sunnyvale, Calif.-based AMD said it expected revenues to rise 10%, or a bit more, from the third quarter's $765.9 million. In November, the company forecast revenues to be little changed to up slightly.