Mr. Barrett said the results at the leading maker of personal computer chips reflected "growth across nearly all of our geographies and product lines, including strong microprocessor sales."

In 1995, microprocessor sales are expected to shift from the 486 and its compatibles, to Intel's Pentium chip and its clones.

The company cited weak demand in Europe, and the fact that microprocessor sales did not rise to seasonal norms.

Intel, with estimated microprocessor sales of $14.9 billion in 1996, is the market leader at about 80 percent.

As I mentioned above, AMD's microprocessor sales were up a bit from the previous quarter, but they're still down 21 percent year-over-year.

"PC demand worldwide is still pretty decent," and the glut of inventory that had slowed microprocessor sales has largely been flushed through the distribution system, he said.

Also this month, Intel warned that microprocessor sales were weakening, sending chip stocks reeling.

They said PC manufacturers appeared to have worked through an inventory glut, which had depressed microprocessor sales in previous quarters.

He said that the $470 million account-receivable figure for microprocessor sales represented about $1 billion in personal computer retail sales.

The stock may also have ridden on the coattails of Intel, which said Tuesday that its microprocessor sales to computer makers had stabilized.