Intel Corp. (INTC) traded higher Friday morning despite a 90% drop in the company’s fourth-quarter profit and decision not to provide a detailed guidance due to economic uncertainty. While the chipmaker’s quarterly results met Wall Street expectations, investors also breathed a sigh of relief as analysts showed more confidence in a turnaround by the second half of the current year.

On Thursday, Intel reported quarterly net income of $234 million, or 4 cents per share. Sales for the quarter fell 23% to $8.2 billion, after two revenue warnings in the last 3 months. While investors had expected the company to guide to a thorny first quarter, Intel declined to provide a “quantitative guidance” but said it is currently looking at sales in the “vicinity of $7 billion” for internal purposes.

Intel said it was poised to return to healthy growth after its customers run through their existing inventory and begin to place new orders. Gross margins are still expected to fall in the first quarter but should rebound to a “healthy” range by the second half of 2009.

Intel shares were up a little over 1% at $13.45 at noon on the NASDAQ. They had touched a high of $13.96 earlier in the day.

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