Intel boosts quarterly dividend 15%
It’ll be a good weekend for Intel Corp. shareholders as the world’s largest chipmaker boosted its dividend 15%.
The Santa Clara technology giant said Friday that its quarterly cash payout would jump to 18 cents a share starting in 2011. Not a bad addition to what Intel Chief Executive Paul Otellini calls the “best year ever.”
Intel shares were up 1% to $21.43 at about 10:20 a.m. PST, bucking the general market slide.
Intel first launched its dividend program in 1992 and has since paid out roughly $20 billion, according to the company. Now, it seems like all of the tech industry has dividend fever.
Microsoft Corp. said in September that it was pushing its quarterly payout up 23% to 16 cents a share. Cisco Systems Inc. jumped in the game that month, saying that it intended to issue a dividend for the first time during this fiscal year, ending July 2011.
Oracle started paying a dividend last year. Hewlett-Packard has been making payments for years, as has IBM.
Google and Apple shareholders will have to sit out this party. Apple stopped its dividend program in 1995 and Google says it doesn’t plan to issue any payments “in the foreseeable future.”
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-- Tiffany Hsu
Photo: Intel Chief Executive Paul Otellini. Credit: Roberg Galbraith / Reuters
