Chip-maker Intel has released a stunning set of quarterly results, beating most Wall Street expectations and setting an upbeat mood for the start of the reporting season. Net profit for the quarter ending 26 December rose 875 percent to US$2.3 billion, while revenues climbed 28 percent to US$10.6 billion. According to a report in The Guardian, the results represent a return to the numbers seen three years ago. Intel made profits of US$2.3 billion in the same quarter in 2007, before a 90 percent plunge to US$234 million in 2008. The latest figures include a US$1.25 billion litigation settlement with chip rival AMD. Excluding this, operating income reached U$3.75 billion, a 45 percent increase over the previous quarter.

“We have seen a return of consumer demand and replenishment to normal inventory levels after the precipitous demand drop at the end of 2008 and beginning of 2009,” said Intel’s chief financial officer Stacy Smith in a statement. “Operationally, the fourth quarter of 2009 was one of our most profitable quarters ever.” The performance was accredited to a resurgence in the PC market following the economic recovery, and the launch of Microsoft Windows 7. Intel recently announced a return to the mobile device space after an absence of four years via a partnership with LG, which uses a lower-power version of Intel’s Atom processor in its latest smartphone.