Intel wins appeal of $1.2B fine from EU antitrust regulator
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Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) has won an appeal of a $1.2 billion fine that the European Union's antitrust regulator levied on it in 2009 after the EU's General Court said the analysis the regulator carried out was "incomplete."
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the EUâs General Court in Luxembourg said that the legal errors did not make it possible to show that there was a legal standard to show anticompetitive behavior.
"The analysis carried out by the Commission is incomplete and, in any event, does not make it possible to establish to the requisite legal standard that the rebates at issue were capable of having, or were likely to have, anticompetitive effects, which is why the General Court annuls the decision," the court wrote in its decision.
Intel (INTC) shares are up more than 1% to $51.65 in pre-market trading.
The issue at hand was that the EU's antitrust regulator claimed that Intel had abused its market position by issuing loyalty rebates and payments that hurt Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) and hampered it from competing.
Intel appealed the decision in 2017 to the European Court of Justice, which sent it back to the lower court, though it added that the lower court needed to examine its analysis of whether the rebates did not let the competition adequately compete.
The EU's Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager, who is the area's top regulator for competition, said the commission would "need a bit of time" to assess the ruling and potentially appeal. If the case is appealed, it would go to the Court of Justice.
Intel is set to report fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday, with analysts forecasting that the chip giant will generate $18.36 billion in revenue, earning 79 cents a share.
Last week, Citigroup analyst Christopher Danely raised his price target on Intel's (INTC) to $58, up from $52, saying the company is likely to deliver better-than-expected quarterly results due to strength in its enterprise and PC notebook businesses.