Despite a few embarrassing product delays during the third quarter, Intel is expected to report another strongly profitable period because of a surge in sales of cheap PCs. After the market closes today, the Santa Clara, California-based chipmaker is expected to report earnings of nearly $2 billion, or 57 cents a share, on revenues of nearly $7.5 billion, according to a poll of analysts by First Call. Some analysts, however, have said that the "whisper" number, or latest informal estimate, is closer to 60 cents a share. For the same quarter of last year, Intel posted profits of 44 cents a share. Earnings last quarter topped $1.7 billion, or 51 cents a share, slightly lower than expectations. The company is scheduled to discuss the latest earnings report with analysts during a conference call at 2:30 PT. A hefty portion of Intel's revenues and profits for the past quarter likely came from Celeron processors, the relatively inexpensive processors that are found in many low-end consumer PCs.