Intel reported a near 45 percent rise in first-quarter profit, helped by strength in its data center business and a stabilizing personal computer market.

The company's net income rose to $2.96 billion in the quarter ended April 1 from $2.05 billion a year earlier. Revenue rose to $14.80 billion from $13.70 billion.

Revenue from Intel's higher-margin data center business rose 6 percent to $4.2 billion in the quarter. The business is crucial to Intel's move to switch focus from the personal computer market towards making chips for data centers and Internet connected devices.

"The first quarter was another record quarter, coming off a record 2016. We continued to grow our company, shipped our disruptive new Optane memory technology, and positioned Intel to lead in new areas like artificial
intelligence and autonomous driving," said Brian Krzanich, Intel CEO. "The
ASP strength we saw across nearly every segment of the business demonstrates continued demand for high-performance computing, which will only increase with the explosion of data."

However, Intel still gets most of its revenue from selling PC chips, a business that returned to growth in 2016 due to stabilizing demand in the second half of the year.

Revenue from client computing, as Intel calls the business, rose 6 percent to $8 billion.

The company said it expects second-quarter revenue of $14.4 billion, plus or minus $500 million.