AMD Unveils New Profit Goals

SAN FRANCISCO -- Meet the new Advanced Micro Devices(AMD Quote).

The troubled chipmaker opened its proverbial kimono Thursday, giving investors the first detailed look at the financial underpinnings and strategic plan that will guide the company through the most significant reorganization in its history.

With the global economy unraveling, and the interestingly timed Intel(INTC Quote) sales warning hours earlier confirming the dismal state of demand for PCs, AMD is re-inventing itself amid a difficult and uncertain business environment.

"It is stormy out there ...we all want to forget October," Chief Financial Officer Bob Rivet told the audience gathered in Sunnyvale, Calif., for its annual analyst day. But he said he was confident the storm would pass, although he held off on updating the company's financial guidance until early next month, when Rivet is scheduled to speak at an investor conference.

Instead, Rivet and the rest of AMD's top brass filled in key gaps about what AMD will look like once it completes the spinoff of its chip manufacturing arm, slated to occur in mid-January.

Besides ceasing to manufacturing its chips in-house, AMD 2.0 will focus on offering value-oriented products for the masses rather than chasing the performance-hungry crowd -- and most importantly, executives stressed, it will be profitable.

"We've collectively had enough of losing money. And we're looking forward to hearing the cash register start ringing," said CEO Dirk Meyer.

AMD has lost more than $5 billion over the past eight quarters. But the manufacturing spinoff and various cuts to operating expenses -- including the most recent layoff of 500 workers -- means that AMD is now officially capable of breaking even with $1.5 billion in quarterly revenue.