Citi analyst Christopher Danely reflected on March notebook shipments, which soared 33% MoM but below the firm’s estimate of +42%.
On a quarter-to-quarter basis, shipments are down 20% amid “continued component supply tightness, logistic constraints and slowdown in Chromebook demand.”
“This is the third consecutive month where notebook shipments were below expectations. We see this as another yellow flag and believe PC sales could cool off in 2H22 due to a reversion to the mean after two straight years of double digit growth,” Danely said in a client note.
Citi expects Q2 notebook shipments to rise 5% QoQ although chromebook demand slowdown is seen as a problem.
“We have been suspecting that consumer PC demand is weakening since February, and 1Q22 is the first quarter since 3Q18 where notebook shipments missed expectations,” Danely added.
Net-net, Danely reiterated a Neutral rating on Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) shares as he “expect downside to Consensus estimates when PC demand reverts to the mean in C22.”
By Senad Karaahmetovic