AMD's Red-Sky Morning

Updated from 7:54 a.m. EDT

How much money did Advanced Micro Devices(AMD Quote) lose?

That will be an important, but hardly the only unpleasant question facing the company as it reports its first-quarter results after Thursday's market close. Shares were up 13 cents at $14.04 ahead of the numbers.

Stung by intense competition with Intel(INTC Quote), AMD's management will have to explain a range of troubling trends in its business, including the company's sudden lack of profitability, a dizzying mountain of debt and a potential need for more funding.

The Sunnyvale, Calif., chipmaker already preannounced that its first-quarter sales would fall short of expectations, as average selling prices and unit sales declined sequentially. According to AMD, first-quarter sales will total $1.23 billion, down 30% sequentially, and significantly below the $1.6 billion to $1.7 billion range it initially expected.

But AMD left investors guessing about the other key facets of its business.

"We believe the bear case for AMD's revenue is widely priced into the stock; however, the impact to earnings and cash flow from aggressive price cutting tactics is still unclear," wrote American Technology Research analyst Doug Freedman in a recent note to investors.

"We believe the Street could still be surprised by the size of the loss the company could post for the full year," wrote Freedman, who rates AMD sell.

AMD has fallen on hard times as competition with Intel has intensified. For a couple of years, AMD's chips had a technological edge over Intel's, allowing AMD to make inroads with new customers such as Dell(DELL Quote), and grab a 25% share of the microprocessor market.