Intel shares soared in after-hours trading Tuesday after the world's biggest computer chipmaker delivered earnings that beat estimates and an upbeat forecast for the remainder of the year.

Intel said net profit fell five percent in the third quarter of the year compared with the same period last year to 1.9 billion dollars, or 33 cents per share, better than the 28 cents expected by Wall Street analysts.

The California-based technology bellwether said revenue declined 7.8 percent to 9.4 billion dollars, higher than the 8.8 to 9.2 billion dollars the company forecast in August.

Shares in the US semiconductor giant shot up 4.20 percent in electronic after-hours trading in New York to 21.35 dollars, after gaining 0.44 percent to 20.49 dollars during the day.

"Intel's strong third-quarter results underscore that computing is essential to people's lives, proving the importance of technology innovation in leading an economic recovery," said Intel president and chief executive Paul Otellini.

"This momentum in the current economic climate, plus our product leadership, gives us confidence about our business prospects going forward."

Intel forecast revenue of 10.1 billion dollars, plus or minus 400 million dollars, for the current quarter, well above the estimates of analysts of around 9.51 billion dollars for the October-December period.

The outlook provided further hope the personal computer industry is starting to pull itself out of the recession.

The Gartner research group said last month that the global computer market is showing signs of recovery, with sales forecast to decline just 2.0 percent this year, much better than a June prediction of 6.0 percent.