AMD managed to beat analyst expectations, despite seeing its revenue slide 32 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2012.

AMD reported revenue of $1.16 billion, down from $1.69 billion in 2011, but still slightly above analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. AMD’s net loss was $473 million, up from $177 million in Q4 2011 and the figure includes a $209 million charge for reducing its purchasing obligations to Globalfoundries. Sans one-time charges, AMD would have reported a loss of $0.14 per share, significantly lower than $0.20 expected by analysts.

All in all, the results are not all that bad. The slowdown is also affecting Intel, which reported a 3-percent drop in revenue, as well as significantly lower profits.

However, AMD has an exciting roadmap for 2013 and the company could easily see its fortunes turn around. It will benefit from the introduction of next-gen consoles later this year and it will also roll out several interesting chips. We would put our money on AMD’s upcoming low-end APUs, provided they are not delayed.