Intel on Thursday announced at its annual investor meeting that it will raise the company’s quarterly dividend by 2 cents a share for an annual increase of eight cents to $1.04 per share.
The news came alongside comments from CEO Brian Krzanich, who said the company is looking to its Data Center, Internet of Things and Memory businesses to drive growth on the foundation of its Computing business.
“Our financials show that Intel’s transformation is underway, and we’re forecasting growth for 2016,” Intel CFO Stacy Smith said in a statement. “The 2016 dividend increase reflects confidence in the strategy and Intel’s ongoing commitment to create value and return cash to shareholders.”
According to Intel’s full-year 2016 outlook, the company is anticipating revenue growth in the “mid-single digits” and capital spending amounting to around $10 billion. The company expects to spend nearly $1.5 billion of that sum on its Memory division, Intel said in its forecast.
Intel’s decision to focus its future outside its computer business comes as PC shipment forecasts continue to shrink. According to IDC Corp’s 2015 PC Outlook, worldwide shipments of PCs were expected to drop nearly 5 percent in 2015. Challenges in the market were expected to continue over the next several years in the face of a strong shift toward mobile devices, with only a -1.1 percent to .05 percent compound annual growth rate for PC shipments forecast through 2019.
