AMD Loses Big, CEO Ruiz Steps Down

SAN FRANCISCO -- Advanced Micro Devices(AMD Quote) reported another massive loss in the second quarter, and it has finally brought the end of CEO Hector Ruiz's tenure.

The chipmaker said Ruiz would step down effective immediately, with President and Chief Operating Officer Dirk Meyer taking the CEO post. Ruiz will become executive chairman.

AMD's results included an $880 billion writedown to the company's' consumer electronics business, announced last week. AMD said Thursday that it was divesting itself of the business, though it provided no details on whether the business was being sold to another company.

Share of AMD fell more than 6% in recent after-hours trading to $4.95.

The Sunnyvale, Calif., chipmaker posted a loss of $1.19 billion, or $1.96 a share, vs. a loss of $600 million, or $1.09 cents at this time last year.

Analysts were expecting a loss of 52 cents a share, excluding certain charges.

AMD's total revenue in the three months ended June 28 totaled $1.38 billion, up 0.5% year-over-year, and below the average analyst expectation of $1.45 billion.

Despite a "disappointing" financial quarter, AMD CFO Bob Rivet said customer adoption of new microprocessor and graphics chips have been strong and said the company was seeing increasing momentum across its businesses.

"In the face of challenging macroeconomic conditions, we remain committed to achieving operating profitability in the second half of the year based on the continued ramp of new products, increased market penetration of our differentiated solutions, and continued actions designed to reduce our breakeven point," Rivet said.