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Intel Appoints Karen Walker as Senior Vice President & CMO

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Intel (INTC - Free Report) has appointed Karen Walker as the company’s senior vice president (SVP) and chief marketing officer (CMO) effective Oct 23, 2019.

Walker will report directly to Intel’s executive vice president and general manager, Michelle Johnston Holthaus, and will be responsible for all the finance, sales, marketing and technology operations.

Walker will bring extensive experience in financial management and global business insight in technology to the table. The appointment of a veteran like Walker should soothe investor nerves as the new SVP will bring leadership experience across growth strategies and strengthen Intel’s brand. This in turn will increase demand for the company’s products and solutions globally.

Walker was associated with Cisco (CSCO - Free Report) since 2015. Having served as the CMO of Cisco's hybrid business for around four years, where she displayed exemplary leadership qualities. Walker has also served for as vice president of marketing at Hewlett-Packard (HPQ - Free Report) for eight years.

She is experienced in diverse fields such as marketing and technology, and is a business leader in the software and hardware industries. With such extensive experience in the world of technology, Walkeris likely to prove to be a valuable asset to the company.

Holding a series of educational and professional degrees, including a Bachelor of Science degree from Loughborough University, Walker was awarded “Honorary Doctorate of Business Administration from the University of Sunderland in 2018.” According to Bob Swan, Intel’s CEO, “Karen is a truly a world-class CMO.”

Looking Ahead

Intel guided third-quarter 2019 revenues of around $18 billion, excluding impact from sell of its smartphone modem business. Non-GAAP earnings are anticipated to be $1.24 per share.

For fiscal 2019, management now expects revenues of $69.5 billion. Non-GAAP earnings are anticipated to be $4.40 per share.

To Conclude

Intel is benefiting from rising demand witnessed in its higher performance products, both in data center and client domains. Moreover, synergies from Mobileye acquisition and growing clout in ADAS market favor the company’s growth prospects. Further, Intel’s strategy of expanding TAM beyond CPU to adjacent product lines like silicon photonics, fabric, network ASICs, and 3D XPoint memory is yielding results.

Moreover, launch of new 10 nm technology based AI chip, Springhill, holds promise.

However, weakness in demand from China and softness in NAND flash pricing trends, expenses pertaining to 10-nanometer (nm) ramp and constrained supply remain major concerns. Moreover, intensifying competition and pricing pressure from Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD - Free Report) remains a headwind.

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