Intel Earnings Preview

After Tuesday's close, Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) will report earnings for Q3 2014.

Analysts are expecting EPS of $0.64 on revenue estimates of $14.41 billion. The chip maker has been on trader’s radar since the semi-conductor sector was sold off heavily during Friday’s session.

Summit Research sees Intel's operations improving, but remains hesitant about the company. Analyst Srini Nandury increased the price target for Intel from $27.50 to $31, while maintaining a Hold rating on October 10. The top concern of the analyst is Intel’s stock buyback price north of $31 as opposed to the more advantageous level of $19. The top bull case for the Summit's analyst is the continuation of tailwinds from high-performance high-end computing.

Deutsche Bank expects a solid third quarter of performance and maintained a Buy rating with a $40 price target. Citing strong Enterprise demand and softening of consumer PC demand, analyst Ross Seymore expects Intel's mobile communications group (MCG) to gain 50 percent quarter-over-quarter, "given the timing of new product ramps and the potential for cost improvements to lower contra-revenue impact."

With 30 minutes left in the trading session, Intel was up 1.5 percent at $31.94.