Analysts had expected AMD to lose 42 cents a share on revenue of $1.26 billion, according to a consensus survey by Thomson Reuters. Instead, the company lost 18 cents a share on revenue of $1.4 billion, which was down from $1.8 billion for the same quarter last year.

Not the sort of blow-out quarter we saw from Intel (INTC) earlier this week, but encouraging news nonetheless. Certainly, AMD’s leadership believes the company is poised for a turnaround. During a conference call to discuss AMD’s (AMD) third-quarter results, CEO Dirk Meyer offered an upbeat outlook for the remainder of 2009 despite the current loss.

“Third quarter consumer PC demand continued to improve from prior periods, with particular strength in notebooks and in China and continued recovery in Europe and in North America,” Meyer said. “And it appears the commercial IT markets are positioned to improve next year….Going forward, we believe we are well positioned to succeed.”

On what grounds? Intel (INTC) spokesperson Robert Manetta said simply that the EC’s “decision is wrong.” Said Manetta: “We believe the European Commission misinterpreted some evidence and ignored other pieces of evidence.”

Just how Intel intends to prove that isn’t yet clear. But we may find out in September when the court is likely to issue a summary of the company’s complaints.

Looks like Yahoo has found its new CFO. This afternoon, the company said that Tim Morse will take charge of its finances. Morse, who has served as chief financial officer for chip maker Altera (ALTR) since 2007 and spent 15 years at GE (GE) before that, will start work on June 17 and assume CFO responsibilities on July 1.

Welcome news, since Yahoo has been looking to fill the position since Blake Jorgensen said he would step down from the Silicon Valley-based company last February.

What did it take to bring Morse to Yahoo? According to an SEC filing, a $500,000 signing bonus, a base salary of $500,000, an option to purchase 400,000 shares of Yahoo stock, and 150,000 shares of restricted stock.

The appointment of Morse is yet another for Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz, who has tended to pick her top execs from a more business-focused sector than one focused on the consumer Internet, which is Yahoo’s arena.

Here is the official press release:

Morse Appointed Chief Financial Officer of Yahoo!

SUNNYVALE, Calif.–(Business Wire) Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO) announced today that the Board of Directors has appointed Tim Morse as chief financial officer. Reporting directly to Carol Bartz, the chief executive officer of Yahoo!, Morse will be responsible for the company’s finance, investor relations, and mergers and acquisitions groups. He will commence employment on June 17, 2009 and will assume the responsibilities of CFO on July 1, 2009.

“Tim has a proven ability to translate strategy into structure, process, and execution, and I am delighted that he will be joining my leadership team to help drive Yahoo!’s growth,” said Bartz. “With his passion for operational finance, global experience, and expertise simplifying complex organizations and managing growth, Tim is a natural fit for Yahoo!.”

Morse has financial experience in both large and small organizations, managing in complex, fast-paced environments and establishing scalable, cost-effective processes and controls. Prior to joining Yahoo!, he was the CFO of Altera Corporation, a semiconductor company specializing in programmable logic devices for communications, industrial, and consumer applications. Morse previously served as the CFO and general manager of business development for General Electric Plastics. A 15 year veteran of GE, he also held a variety of positions at GE Plastics, GE Appliances and GE Capital in North America, Europe and Asia.

“Yahoo! is an amazing brand with a unique combination of assets, and I am extremely excited to be joining a finance team with a deep commitment to financial excellence and fiscal discipline,” said Morse. “I look forward to working with the entire leadership team to continue to focus on driving results and creating value for our shareholders.”

Morse holds a bachelor’s degree in finance and operations and strategic management from the Boston College Carroll School of Management.

Gone are the days of the silly clock-speed race, the megahertz myth, “performance per watt” war and the great AMD (AMD)-Intel dual-core PR shootout. Now Intel wants us all to know that while it’s still “inside” our PCs, it’s outside them in a variety of other ways as well. “Many people take for granted what we as a company helped drive,” Intel spokesman David Dickstein told MarketWatch. “We’re hoping that we’re not just known as a microprocessor company, but as a move-society-by-quantum-leaps company.”

“This isn’t a matter of dissing Microsoft, but Intel information technology staff just found no compelling case for adopting Vista,” a person with direct knowledge of the company’s plans told the New York Times.

Intel information technology staff just found no compelling case for adopting Vista. If that’s not a diss, then neither is “Windows Vista sucks.” Because if one half of the Wintel hegemony is balking at deploying the latest iteration of the OS on which it’s built, well that’s pretty ugly.

“I would buy a Mac today if I was not working at Microsoft,” longtime Windows development chief Jim Allchin said in January of 2004. And so too, perhaps, would Intel, if it wasn’t partners with the company.

I am a media-relations nightmare. I never prep, and I generally say what I think–and sometimes I say things before I think. I don’t know how many times people in the company have heard me say something to a reporter and later told me, ‘Jesus Christ, that’s going to be in the paper!’”

–Henry Nicholas, July 2004

According to Forbes, former Broadcom Corp. chief and founder Henry Nicholas ranks 677th on the list of the world’s wealthiest individuals. But according to a federal indictment unsealed today (full document below), he’d rank quite a bit higher on a list of the world’s most debauched. Scattered among charges related to improperly backdating stock options while he led the computer and cellphone chip-maker are some heavy drug violations. According to the indictment, it seems that while Nicholas was fraudulently backdating stock options that resulted in more than $2 billion of restated expenses, he was also conspiring to distribute controlled substances.

Those he didn’t use himself, that is. From the indictment:

In or around 2001, Nicholas distributed and used controlled substances during a flight on a private plane between Orange County and Las Vegas, causing marijuana smoke and fumes to enter the cockpit and requiring the pilot flying the plane to put on an oxygen mask.”

Nicholas also apparently had a habit of spiking the drinks of associates and customers with drugs. Generally ecstasy. Hell of a way to close a sales meeting, eh?

As noted here before, it’s hard to believe that an entrepreneur and philanthropist like Nicholas would conduct himself like a roadie on Zeppelin’s debauched 1973 tour. But then no one probably thought he was serious about building that subterranean sex lair, either. Anyway, here’s the drug indictment. Click on the box in the far right-hand corner to enlarge: