Intel updated its line of Centrino notebook computer chips, adding higher speeds and improved multimedia features, a move the company hopes will further propel one of its fastest-growing businesses.
The chips, which had been delayed for a few months because of a technical glitch, are expected to appear in 80 notebook models immediately, and 150 by year-end, Intel said. Pricing and other details are to be disclosed at a later marketing event.
Backed by a massive global advertising push, Centrino Mobile Technology has been viewed by analysts as a big hit for Intel (INTC), allowing it to sell a bundle of three chips -- a microprocessor, a supporting chipset and a wireless chip -- under a single, widely recognized brand. PC makers cannot use the Centrino brand unless they buy the entire bundle of Intel chips. Intel commands about 85 percent of the notebook microprocessor market.
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Creating cars: General Motors said its net income fell 37 percent in the fourth quarter, led downward by continued struggles at its European operations and rising health-care costs.
GM (GM) officials said the company expects break-even or better results in the first quarter, reflecting lower vehicle production and sales of less-profitable cars and trucks. The company expects U.S. vehicle sales to fall slightly in 2005 from last year's robust volume.
Excluding special items, GM's 2004 earnings amounted to $3.6 billion, or $6.40 a share -- in line with the company's guidance and above the Wall Street consensus of $6.31 a share. Results included record earnings at its finance arm, GMAC, for the 10th consecutive year, and a 12 percent improvement in automotive earnings.
The special charges in the fourth quarter -- which resulted in a slightly favorable effect on reported earnings -- included a gain on its holdings in XM Satellite Radio and a write-down of its investment in Fiat Automotive Holdings.
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Drug dealers: Pfizer said that its net income for the fourth quarter more than quadrupled, driven by strong sales of cholesterol drug Lipitor. Its earnings missed analysts' forecasts after excluding certain items, however.
Pfizer (PFE) also said revenue and income will likely be tempered in the near term due to patent expirations and other factors.
The company's Celebrex and Bextra medications benefited from the withdrawal of Merck's (MRK) Vioxx from the market after research revealed the competing drug doubled patients' risk of heart attack and strokes. However, during the quarter there was news tying both Celebrex and Bextra to heart problems, so analysts say it is doubtful the drugs' strong sales will continue. Celebrex prescriptions were down sharply immediately following the mid-December news linking it to heart problems.
During the quarter, sales of Pfizer's erectile dysfunction drug Viagra declined as competition from newer products hurt the brand. Pfizer also saw revenues from several products drop as generic competitors' sales rose.
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Phone failures: Motorola's stock sank as much as 8 percent despite a successful quarter, as Wall Street questioned the staying power of the market-share resurgence by the world's No. 2 cell-phone maker.
Better-than-expected sales of its medley of new mobile phones helped Motorola (MOT) boost income by 34 percent in fourth-quarter results. But its outlook for the current quarter was more cautious, and some analysts expressed concern that much of its gains came in lower-priced phones, where success could be harder to sustain as rivals issue their own new handsets.
Excluding results from discontinued operations -- the money-losing chip business it spun off into Freescale Semiconductor (FSL) last month -- earnings were 28 cents per share. That was 4 cents better than the estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.
The cell-phone unit, by far Motorola's biggest business, posted operating earnings of $525 million on sales of $5 billion -- up an impressive 51 percent from a year earlier. The company said it shipped 32 million handsets in the fourth quarter -- up 42 percent.
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Compiled by David Cohn. AP and Reuters contributed to this report.
