We thought Zillow's 2011 IPO was a good sign for the tech and Internet market. Intel has not only just confirmed that notion, but blown everybody's expectations right out of the water.

The world's largest chipmaker just wowed Wall Street and the tech world with its latest earnings report. The publicly-traded company reported a net income of $2.3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009, up an amazing 875 percent from its $234 million earnings in the fourth quarter of 2008. This more than beat Wall Street expectations.

While we won't go into detail about the financial numbers (you can do that here [PDF]), we do want to highlight some of the key stats:

- Revenues in Q4 2009 rose to $10.6 billion, a climb of 28 percent from $8.3 billion last year. - However, if you look at the big picture, Intel had a better 2008 than 2009. 2009 revenues were $35.1 billion, while 2008 revenues reached $37.6 billion. That's a 7 percent difference. - Intel predicts revenues of approximately $9.7 billion in Q1 2010, above Wall Street estimates. - Around a year ago, at the heart of the economic collapse, Intel decided to invest $7 billion into new chip plants. It looks to be paying off.

Intel's Q4 report is one of the first to come out this year, but it won't be the last. If Intel's numbers are any indication though, we're nearing the light at the end of the tunnel.

[img credit: Thomas Hawk]