Clearly the market would prefer that they have higher profit margins, but in this environment, that's probably not all that realistic." Intel managed to beat analysts' tepid expectations for the fourth quarter despite the company's profit plunging 39% and the fact it continued to pay for a massive restructuring and other streamlining efforts. During the quarter ended Dec. 30, Intel's net income was $1.5 billion, or 26 cents a share, versus $2.45 billion, or 40 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Revenue for the quarter was $9.7 billion, down 5% from $10.2 billion a year ago. Excluding the effects of share-based compensation, Intel said it earned $1.7 billion, or 30 cents a share, beating analyst estimates. Analysts were expecting the company to earn 25 cents a share on $9.44 billion in revenue for the quarter, according to a survey by Thomson Financial.