Intel Foundry získává Fortinet jako prvního veřejně oznámeného externího zákazníka za vedení Lip-Bu Tana. Dohoda zahrnuje výrobu nového Security Processor 6 pro firewally FortiGate.
Last month, Intel's (INTC +1.84%) foundry business landed Fortinet as a client. Admittedly, since investors tend to focus on advanced nodes with near exclusivity, many of them might have missed this news.
Still, investors should probably take this news more seriously. Here's why the deal is critical to Intel Foundry and chip stock investors at large.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
The Fortinet deal and what it means to Intel Under the terms of the agreement, Intel Foundry will manufacture its next-generation Security Processor 6, which supports the FortiGate firewall line. In this case, Fortinet provides the front-end design and the architecture. Intel will handle the back-end design, advanced packaging, and manufacturing using the Intel 4 process node.
Although numerous companies have negotiated and agreed to deals with Intel, Fortinet is the first named outside customer under Lip-Bu Tan, who became CEO in early 2025.
It takes Intel into the cybersecurity chip space, helping Fortinet shift away from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), which dominates the foundry industry with a 72% market share, according to TrendForce.
This deal makes Intel a player in the development of cybersecurity ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits). More importantly, it could also lead other cybersecurity companies to follow Fortinet's lead and choose Intel as their manufacturer, helping Intel build a niche that can further challenge TSMC.
Still, investors might struggle with whether this is directly actionable for prospective Intel shareholders right now.
In the second quarter of 2026, revenue was $16.1 billion, with Intel Foundry's business accounting for $5.8 billion of Intel's Q2 revenue. Foundry unit revenue grew 31%, just above the company's 25% target, implying that this part of the business could influence the stock price.
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While that implies that the Fortinet deal should bode well for Intel stock, it is coming off a 400% gain over the last year. Past losses leave it without a meaningful price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, though the forward P/E of 66 indicates that it has become an expensive stock.
Thus, even if this news helps the company, investors may hesitate to buy Intel shares for now despite this development.
Moving forward with Intel stock Intel's deal with Fortinet could become a new business line for investors, and even if it may not be actionable by shareholders at this time, it could ultimately help make Intel Foundry a reason to own its stock.
Indeed, the Fortinet deal to build a cybersecurity-oriented processor could make Intel a leader in this niche of the chip industry. That could help it challenge TSMC's dominance in the foundry industry.
While that is likely bullish for Intel in the long run, Intel's high valuation could mean that little changes for the stock in the near term.
Instead, the Fortinet deal is a signal to investors to watch for other deals. Assuming Intel Foundry can continue to make agreements, especially in an industry like cybersecurity, it may become a driver for Intel stock in the coming years.
SoftBank vykázal čistý zisk připadající akcionářům 347,3 mld. ¥, což překonalo odhad 148,4 mld. ¥ díky zisku 1,33 bil. ¥ z podílu v Intelu. Akcie v Tokiu před výsledky klesly o 4,41 %.
SoftBank Group stock tanked 4.41% in Tokyo on Thursday as investors reduced exposure to a volatile Asian AI trade before the company released its first-quarter results.
The caution looked premature when the numbers arrived after the market closed.
SoftBank reported net income attributable to shareholders of ¥347.3 billion, down 17.7% from a year earlier but comfortably above the ¥148.4 billion consensus.
A ¥1.33 trillion gain on Intel provided the surprise, turning founder Masayoshi Son’s $2 billion investment into the quarter’s main profit driver.
The disconnect suggests Thursday’s share decline reflected anxiety about SoftBank’s concentrated, debt-funded AI strategy rather than disappointment with the results.
SoftBank agreed in August 2025 to buy $2 billion of Intel shares at $23 each, backing the chipmaker during a difficult restructuring.
The wager had looked contrarian when Intel was struggling to revive manufacturing, defend market share and establish an AI strategy.
That position generated a ¥1.33 trillion paper gain as Intel shares rallied. SoftBank’s total investment gains reached ¥1.86 trillion, compared with ¥486.9 billion a year earlier.
Morningstar analyst Brian Colello raised his Intel fair-value estimate to $105 from $90 after the chipmaker’s latest results, citing a sharp increase in demand for server processors.
Intel’s Data Center and AI revenue grew 59%, encouraging Morningstar to adopt stronger long-term assumptions for server computing.
Wedbush analyst Matt Bryson also raised his Intel price target to $98 from $60 while retaining a Neutral rating, Benzinga reported.
Bank of America’s Vivek Arya maintained a Buy rating and a $160 target, arguing that Intel’s server business was participating meaningfully in the agentic-AI cycle.
Those views give SoftBank’s gain a stronger fundamental foundation, although it remains an unrealised mark-to-market benefit rather than operating cash flow.
SoftBank’s headline profit still fell from ¥421.8 billion a year earlier, showing how much the quarter depended on portfolio valuations rather than recurring operations.
The group recorded no gain or loss on OpenAI during the period, after a $25 billion valuation gain from the holding had powered the previous quarter.
That pattern matters because SoftBank’s profits can change dramatically when one or two holdings are revalued.
The Intel gain was substantial, but foreign-exchange movements, derivatives and financing costs absorbed much of the broader investment windfall.
The results were a clear earnings beat, but not an uncomplicated improvement in profit quality.
The underlying concern remains whether SoftBank can generate sufficient cash while financing investments whose valuations may fluctuate sharply.
SoftBank has committed $64.6 billion for an estimated 13% stake in OpenAI. It had invested $44.6 billion by June, added another $10 billion in July and plans a further $10 billion contribution in October.
The group has arranged a $40 billion bridge facility that expires in March 2027 and agreed to borrow another $10 billion against its OpenAI shares.
It has also sold holdings including Nvidia and T-Mobile to fund its expansion.
Further commitments include $5.4 billion for ABB’s robotics business and $3.1 billion for DigitalBridge, alongside investment in data centres, energy and AI infrastructure.
Akcie Intelu v červenci klesly o 35,4 % kvůli výprodeji polovodičů a obavám z vysokých kapitálových výdajů. Investoři zpochybňují, zda více než 20 miliard USD letos vygeneruje dostatečné zisky.
Shares of the semiconductor company Intel (INTC +10.75%) fell hard in July as the company faced several pressures, including a broad chip stock sell-off and growing concerns among investors that Intel's capital expenditures (capex) are too high.
Intel stock fell by 35.4% last month, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence, leaving investors wondering where the tech stock is headed next.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Lots of spending is worrying investors Semiconductor stocks fell hard in July as investors questioned whether all the spending on artificial intelligence would pay off. For example, shares of memory chipmaker SK Hynix tumbled during the month, partly due to concerns that AI hardware spending is unsustainable.
By the end of July, 20 of the world's largest semiconductor companies had lost a cumulative $1 trillion in value due to the sell-off.
Large tech companies are spending heavily to build out their AI data centers -- $750 billion in capex spending this year alone -- and a lot of the spending is going to semiconductor companies for their processors.
To keep up with demand and win new contracts, Intel is investing heavily in semiconductor manufacturing capacity. Intel said on its second-quarter earnings call that it will spend more than $20 billion in capital expenditures this year and that 2027 spending will "be significantly above the 2026 levels."
Investors aren't loving the spending spree.
To its credit, Intel is making progress on building out its foundry business. Foundry sales rose 31% in the second quarter to $5.8 billion. But there are still questions about whether all of the capex for new manufacturing processes, like its 18A process, will win over enough large customers to justify the large investments.
And with spending ramping up next year, investors will be even more eager to see progress on this front in the coming quarters.
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Intel stock still isn't a good deal Even with its massive price decline in July, Intel's shares are still very expensive. Intel stock has a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 88 right now, far higher than the tech sector average P/E ratio of just 34.
While Intel is making progress as it taps into the AI boom, the company still needs to prove it can attract large customers to its foundry business and accelerate its current growth.
I suspect Intel shares will experience much more volatility ahead as investors assess whether Intel's spending will translate to profits down the road.
Intel by mohl v roce 2027 vykázat první roční GAAP zisk od roku 2023 díky silnější poptávce po AI a rostoucím hrubým maržím. Akcie INTC v úterý vzrostly o 10 %.
The semiconductor company's stock has staged a dramatic comeback in 2026 – currently trading at more than 2x its price at the start of this year.
However, despite recent technological advancements and foundry wins, the company has yet to hit a significant operational milestone: achieving GAAP annual profitability.
For those sticking with INTC stock, though, the good news is that the semiconductor giant is now closer than ever to crossing that threshold.
In fact, experts now believe accelerating AI demand and expanding gross margins could see it post its first profitable year since 2023 as soon as next year.
Intel's headline GAAP loss of $11 billion in Q2 appears dramatic at first, but a closer examination reveals that the red ink stems primarily from non-cash accounting line items.
The dominant drag was a $12.5 billion non-cash, mark-to-market charge tied to escrowed shares set aside for the US government under its agreement with the Trump administration, an accounting adjustment rather than an outflow of cash.
Combined with Q1 non-cash goodwill impairments, these charges obscure Intel’s solid underlying performance across core business units.
Excluding these non-operational items, INTC actually recorded $2.2 billion in non-GAAP adjusted net income and generated $7 billion in operating cash flow during Q2 alone, powered by a 59% year-on-year increase in Data Center and AI revenue.
Reaching annual GAAP profitability in 2027 requires Intel to cover about $23 billion in projected annual operating expenses.
With GAAP gross margins expanding 100 basis points sequentially to 40.4% in the second quarter, and management guiding for 41% in the current quarter – the giant's revenue threshold for break-even sits near $56 billion annually.
And its current sales pace comfortably clears that mark, with first-half revenue reaching roughly $29.7 billion and Q3 revenue guidance set at $15.8 billion to $16.8 billion, implying an annualized run rate of nearly $65 billion.
While H1 accounting losses preclude full-year GAAP profitability in 2026, modest top-line growth of 5% to 10% next year against mid-$20 billion operating expenditures should comfortably yield several billion dollars in GAAP net profit.
While the operational path toward black ink in 2027 is clear, INTC's market cap of roughly $503 billion signals Wall Street has already priced in a significant portion of this recovery.
Trading at a rather stretched 90x forward earnings, investors must weigh near-term noise, such as further paper revaluations of government escrow shares or restructuring costs, against long-term execution on the 18A manufacturing node.
For new capital, chasing aggressive intraday rallies carries valuation risk; a more prudent approach is waiting for price consolidation or building positions on pullbacks.
Note that Wall Street currently rates Intel shares at Hold only, with the mean price target of about $114 indicating potential upside of nearly 15% from here.
Intel ve 2. čtvrtletí zvýšil tržby o 25 % na 16,1 miliardy USD, ale vykázal čistou ztrátu 11,0 miliardy USD kvůli účetním odpisům. Firma zároveň čeká další růst marže a ve 3. čtvrtletí zisk na akcii 0,31 USD podle GAAP.
Intel (INTC -1.02%) closed at $91.13 on Thursday, up 11.3% in the chip sector's broad rebound. And by the headline numbers, investors just bid up a money loser. Over the past 12 months, Intel's net loss totals about $11.3 billion.
But the losses are not what they appear. Intel's revenue is growing at its fastest pace in more than 15 years, its gross margin is expanding quarter by quarter, and the red ink traces mostly to accounting charges rather than to the business itself.
Put the pieces together, and I think 2027 becomes Intel's first profitable year of this turnaround. Here's a closer look at the arithmetic.
Image source: Intel.
Losses made of paper The second quarter of 2026 shows the pattern. Intel's revenue rose 25% year over year to $16.1 billion (above even the top of management's April forecast), and the company reported a net loss of $11.0 billion anyway.
Nearly all of that loss came from a single line item, though. Intel booked a $12.5 billion non-cash, mark-to-market charge tied to shares it holds in escrow for the U.S. government under its CHIPS Act agreement. It's an accounting adjustment, not cash leaving the business.
The first quarter tells the same story. Intel reported a $3.7 billion net loss that included a $3.9 billion non-cash goodwill impairment and a $1.1 billion mark-to-market loss on escrowed shares.
Set items like these aside, and the company has already turned. Non-GAAP (adjusted) net income was $1.5 billion in the first quarter and $2.2 billion in the second. The second quarter also produced $7.0 billion in operating cash flow.
The growth is broad, too. Intel's data center and AI (artificial intelligence) segment grew revenue 59% year over year last quarter, accelerating from 22% growth in the first quarter. Client computing revenue rose 13% year over year, and the foundry business grew 31%.
Profitability's building blocks are moving in the right direction as well. Intel's GAAP gross margin went from 39.4% in the first quarter to 40.4% in the second, and management's third-quarter guidance calls for 41% -- a steady expansion. Indeed, management's own forecast already has the bottom line crossing zero, with guidance calling for third-quarter earnings of $0.31 per share on a GAAP basis.
What a profitable 2027 requires The arithmetic from here is straightforward. Intel projects about $23 billion of GAAP operating expenses for 2026. At a gross margin around 41%, covering those costs takes roughly $56 billion of annual revenue.
The company's current pace runs well past that bar. First-half revenue was $29.7 billion, and third-quarter guidance of $15.8 billion to $16.8 billion implies an annual run rate around $65 billion.
However, this year can't be the one. The first half's $14.7 billion of reported losses is too deep a hole for two profitable quarters to fill.
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But run the same math forward. If revenue grows even 10% next year (it grew 25% last quarter), Intel would generate about $71 billion of sales in 2027. Holding the guided gross margin in the low 40s, that works out to roughly $29 billion of gross profit against operating expenses somewhere in the mid-$20 billions, allowing for growth in spending. The result would be several billion dollars of operating income and a bottom line comfortably in the black. Even a harsher case, with 5% growth and no margin improvement at all, still lands the year at a profit.
With that said, two things could delay the headline. Additional restructuring charges would push the GAAP number lower, and the escrow-share accounting may result in further paper losses. But those would be charges layered on top of a business that, on current trends, should be solidly profitable in 2027. So that's my prediction: before 2028, Intel posts a profitable year.
What does the prediction mean for the stock? Less than you might hope. At Thursday's close, Intel's market value is about $459 billion -- more than 50 times the adjusted earnings pace of its current and guided quarters. The market isn't waiting to see whether Intel turns profitable. It has already priced the turn, and then some. And the past year shows how quickly the market reprices this name in both directions. Shares have traded as low as $18.97 and as high as $142.35 in that stretch.
I believe the black ink arrives in 2027. But at this price, I'll keep watching from the sidelines.
Bank of America Corp DE ve 1. čtvrtletí snížila podíl v Intelu o 7,3 % a prodala 1 841 195 akcií. Po prodeji držela 23 381 848 akcií v hodnotě 1,03 miliardy USD.
Bank of America Corp DE decreased its holdings in Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC – Free Report) by 7.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,381,848 shares of the chip maker’s stock after selling 1,841,195 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.47% of Intel worth $1,031,841,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of INTC. iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Intel by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 593,043 shares of the chip maker’s stock worth $21,883,000 after buying an additional 86,189 shares during the period. Whalerock Point Partners LLC bought a new stake in Intel during the 4th quarter valued at $205,000. Heritage Investment Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Intel during the fourth quarter worth $219,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Intel during the fourth quarter worth $185,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Intel by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 255,261 shares of the chip maker’s stock worth $9,419,000 after acquiring an additional 13,858 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.53% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on INTC shares. Citigroup upgraded Intel from a “positive” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. TD Cowen raised their target price on Intel from $75.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Intel in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Intel in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, BTIG Research upgraded Intel from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.93.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on Intel
Trending Headlines about Intel Here are the key news stories impacting Intel this week:
Positive Sentiment: Potential Apple supply opportunity: Melius suggested Apple could use Intel alongside its primary processor supplier to reduce manufacturing risk. A win with Apple would strengthen Intel’s foundry ambitions and provide a high-profile customer opportunity. Intel Stock Rises as Analyst Sees Apple Supply Opportunity Positive Sentiment: AI spending and sector inflows are lifting sentiment: Strong Microsoft and Amazon results renewed confidence in cloud and AI infrastructure spending, helping semiconductor stocks recover. Semiconductor ETFs also attracted substantial new cash this week, creating broader buying support for chip names including Intel. Semiconductor ETFs Draw Cash This Week as Chip Stocks Rally Positive Sentiment: Bullish commentary and earnings momentum: Jim Cramer argued that Intel belongs near $110 and said forced selling by the Situational Awareness hedge fund exaggerated the post-earnings decline. Intel’s latest quarterly results also exceeded consensus estimates, with revenue rising more than 25% year over year, while investors continue to focus on its restructuring and improving data-center business. Jim Cramer Says INTC Stock Belongs at $110 Neutral Sentiment: Technical recovery remains uncertain: Intel has stabilized after a sharp earnings-related selloff, but technical resistance is identified around $98–$102. The stock’s elevated volatility means the rebound could remain susceptible to further reversals. Intel Stock Reclaims Momentum Near Key Resistance Negative Sentiment: TSMC is challenging Intel’s packaging advantage: Taiwan Semiconductor is reportedly developing technology similar to Intel’s EMIB advanced packaging, potentially weakening a key differentiator as Nvidia evaluates packaging options. This raises competitive concerns for Intel’s foundry and AI strategy. TSMC Developing Advanced Chip Packaging Technology Negative Sentiment: Expectations and valuation risk remain high: After the rebound, investors are demanding evidence that Intel can sustain AI-related growth and execute its costly turnaround. Analysts remain divided, and the company’s negative net margin and ongoing restructuring add to concerns about near-term profitability. Intel Stock Down 1.0% INTC opened at $90.20 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $113.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.70. Intel Corporation has a 52 week low of $18.97 and a 52 week high of $142.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market cap of $454.97 billion, a PE ratio of -42.75 and a beta of 2.18.
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The chip maker reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.21. Intel had a positive return on equity of 2.62% and a negative net margin of 19.79%.The firm had revenue of $16.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.10) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Intel has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.380-0.380 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Intel Corporation will post 1.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Intel Profile (Free Report)
Intel Corporation, founded in 1968 by Robert Noyce and Gordon E. Moore and headquartered in Santa Clara, California, is a leading global designer and manufacturer of semiconductor products. The company is historically notable for introducing the first commercial microprocessor and for driving the x86 architecture that underpins many personal computers and servers. Intel’s core business spans the design, fabrication and marketing of processors, chipsets and related components for a wide range of computing applications.
Intel’s product portfolio includes client and mobile processors marketed under brands such as Intel Core and Pentium, as well as high-performance Xeon processors for data centers and cloud infrastructure.
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Akcie AMD a Intel ve čtvrtek vyskočily o 13 % po silnějších cloudových výsledcích Microsoftu, které zlepšily náladu kolem výdajů na AI infrastrukturu. Růst podpořil i celý polovodičový sektor.
AMD and Intel shares rebounded sharply on Thursday, reversing losses from previous sessions as Microsoft's stronger-than-expected cloud results boosted confidence in artificial intelligence infrastructure spending and lifted the broader semiconductor sector.
AMD and Intel shares both rose 13% each in the session.
The broader chip industry also advanced, with the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) gaining more than 8%.
The rally followed Microsoft's quarterly earnings, which showed stronger Azure cloud growth and eased investor concerns that massive AI infrastructure investments were failing to generate returns.
The positive results helped improve sentiment toward semiconductor companies that had come under pressure in recent weeks amid concerns over AI spending, valuations and growing competition.
Susquehanna analyst Christopher Rolland reiterated his Buy rating on AMD and increased his price target to $500 from $450, citing stronger prospects for the company's data center business.
Rolland expects AMD to deliver improved financial results and guidance, driven primarily by server CPUs and data center GPUs.
He believes server CPU demand could exceed expectations as the total addressable market expands, while new customer wins support a ramp-up of the company's MI450 data center GPU.
The analyst now forecasts more than $31.5 billion in data center revenue for 2026, with both server processors and GPUs expected to accelerate significantly during the fourth quarter of that year.
Rolland also highlighted AMD's AI roadmap, noting continued MI350 GPU growth during the first half of 2026 followed by a "significant ramp" later in the year as the MI450 platform and Helios infrastructure launch.
He expects deployments to be led initially by customers including OpenAI and Meta.
The analyst also pointed to AMD's 2-gigawatt infrastructure agreement with Anthropic, with the first 1-gigawatt deployment expected during the first half of 2027.
Management is targeting AI-related revenue in the "tens of billions" of dollars by 2027.
Rolland noted that CEO Lisa Su has increased AMD's estimate for the 2030 server CPU market to around $220 billion, reflecting growing demand from agentic AI workloads, where some applications now require CPU-to-GPU ratios greater than one.
Beyond AI infrastructure, Susquehanna expects AMD's client PC business to outperform the broader market through enterprise market share gains and pricing improvements, while embedded demand continues to strengthen in FPGA applications serving AI, aerospace and test equipment.
Intel also received positive commentary from Wells Fargo, which highlighted improving pricing trends across the company's server processor business.
Analyst Aaron Rakers noted that Intel's latest quarterly filing showed shipments of Xeon server processors increased 9% year over year, while average selling prices jumped 48% over the same period.
Rakers also pointed to stronger profitability in Intel's data center operations.
The company's Data Center and AI segment reported a 56% gross margin, improving by 8.4 percentage points from the previous quarter.
In addition, revenue from Intel's custom AI chip business tripled from a year earlier while generating $1.84 billion in operating income, underscoring stronger financial performance within its AI-related operations.
SummaryIntel Corporation is upgraded to Buy as its turnaround gains momentum, driven by robust AI demand and operational improvements.Q2 results exceeded guidance with revenue up 25.4% YoY, record Data Center & AI growth, and improving 18A yields, though free cash flow is delayed by higher CapEx.INTC's AI-driven businesses now represent ~70% of revenue; management expects data center revenue to grow well above a double-digit CAGR over the next several years.Base case price target is $125.92 (46% upside), with a peer-based target at $134.65 (57% upside), supported by EBITDA margin expansion and a strong cash position.Looking for more investing ideas like this one? Get them exclusively at The Aerospace Forum. Learn More » J Studios/DigitalVision via Getty Images
In my prior report, I downgraded Intel Corporation (INTC) from buy to hold after the shares reached my base-case valuation and a peer group valuation, which would support a price of roughly $140 in
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Akcie polovodičů dál oslabují; sektor je za týden asi 10 % v minusu kvůli obavám z výdajů na AI a konkurence z Číny. Intel klesl o 2,2 % a AMD o 3,3 %.
Semiconductor stocks remained under pressure on Wednesday as investors continued to pull back from the sector, extending a multi-day sell-off driven by concerns over artificial intelligence spending and growing competition from China.
Intel INTC shares fell 2.2%, marking their sixth consecutive session of losses, while Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) dropped 3.3%, extending its losing streak to five sessions.
The broader semiconductor sector has now fallen for four straight sessions, leaving chip stocks down about 10% for the week.
The decline comes as investors increasingly question whether the billions of dollars being invested in AI infrastructure will generate sufficient returns, while also monitoring intensifying competition from Chinese chipmakers.
Despite the recent weakness, some analysts argue that the correction reflects changing market sentiment rather than deteriorating industry fundamentals.
Truist Securities said the recent decline presents an opportunity for long-term investors, citing encouraging feedback from industry contacts despite the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index falling 25% from its June 22 peak.
“Feedback remains effervescent, so we continue our positive view on semis.
Favor core AI suppliers for long-term growth; favor ‘fragile’ suppliers for near- term fundamental performance & undemanding valuation,” analyst William Stein wrote.
According to Truist, buyers of AI infrastructure are becoming increasingly willing to place larger purchase orders with longer contract durations than in previous years, suggesting demand remains healthy across the supply chain.
“We acknowledge this situation can change quickly, but for now, supply chain signals remain effervescent,” Stein added.
For investors with a higher tolerance for risk, Truist recommends core AI suppliers including Nvidia, AMD, Broadcom and Monolithic Power Systems.
For lower-risk exposure, the firm prefers Arrow Electronics, Avnet, Belden and Sensata Technologies.
AMD valuation concerns and Intel turnaround remain in focusNot all analysts share the optimistic outlook.
Seeking Alpha maintained a Sell rating on AMD, arguing that the stock's valuation has become difficult to justify despite strong operating performance.
The analysis noted that AMD reported 37.8% revenue growth and 253% free cash flow growth during the first quarter of fiscal 2026.
However, it said the company's valuation multiples, including a price-to-earnings ratio of 181 times and a price-to-free-cash-flow ratio of 106 times, imply growth expectations that may be difficult to sustain.
The report also argued that analyst forecasts require AMD to expand its bottom line by roughly 32% annually for a decade, while highlighting risks in both its Client and Gaming business and its Data Center segment amid concerns that AI demand expectations may prove overly optimistic.
Intel, meanwhile, continues to face pressure related to its multi-year turnaround strategy.
Investor concerns have intensified following reports that the rollout of the company's 18A process technology is progressing more slowly than expected.
Lower-than-target manufacturing yields could delay high-volume production for external foundry customers and weigh on Intel's long-term efforts to regain process leadership.
The uncertainty surrounding its foundry business has added to investor caution as the broader semiconductor sector remains under pressure.
Jim Cramer říká, že teď kupuje Intel a ne Cerebras, protože Intel má podle něj lepší vyhlídky. Intel navíc vykázal ve 2. čtvrtletí tržby 16,13 miliardy USD a non-GAAP EPS 0,42 USD.
On Mad Money, a recent caller pressed Jim Cramer on Cerebras Systems (NASDAQ:CBRS) with a pointed setup: “Last week, CrowdStrike chose Cerebras to power their real-time Falcon AI detection. When George Kurtz vouches for your inference feed, isn’t it time to stop treating Cerebras like a post-IPO trade?”
Cramer conceded the valuation math. “It’s certainly reasonable to say it’s down so much and the P/E multiple is not that high,” he said. Then he redirected the money. “I don’t want to buy a lot of tech. The only one that I’m currently buying is Intel, which I think has better prospects than Cerebras. But I like your logic.”
That is a narrow, deliberate call. Cramer is holding his tech book steady and directing fresh capital toward the legacy incumbent, which he sees as the one AI semiconductor name earning it right now over the hyper-growth pure play.
Why Intel Is Cramer’s Pick Intel (NASDAQ:INTC | INTC Price Prediction) delivered the kind of quarter that supports Cramer’s conviction. Q2 FY2026 revenue landed at $16.13 billion, up 25.4% year over year, described by CEO Lip-Bu Tan as “strongest revenue growth in more than fifteen years.” Non-GAAP EPS of $0.42 beat the $0.2175 estimate by 93.1%, a swing from prior-year losses to real operating profit.
The AI story is now on Intel’s income statement. The Data Center and AI segment posted $6.26 billion in revenue, up 59% year over year, and Intel Foundry grew 31% even as it absorbed a $2.1 billion quarterly operating loss. Tan framed the setup this way: “AI is driving unprecedented demand for compute, and as we continue to execute, Intel is well-positioned to capture sustainable growth across our CPU franchise, ASICs, advanced packaging and vast wafer foundry network.” The full release is available in Intel’s Q2 2026 8-K filing.
The stock has already run hard. INTC is up 148.43% year to date and 342.85% over the past year, closing at $91.67 on July 27 before slipping 5.69% on Tuesday. Forward P/E sits at 105, with the average analyst target at $115.65. Backing the turnaround: an NVIDIA $5 billion equity investment, SoftBank’s $2 billion stake, and a U.S. government equity position tied to CHIPS Act funding.
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The Cerebras Case Cramer Won’t Take Cerebras is the harder trade to justify on fundamentals despite genuine momentum. Q1 FY2026 revenue was $193.4 million, up 94% year over year, driven by a Cloud and Other Services segment that grew 178%. Yet the company posted a GAAP loss of $0.22 per share and carries negative shareholders’ equity of -$194.7 million.
Guidance is where the margin story gets uncomfortable. Management pointed Q2 core gross margin to 36-38%, with core operating margins of -30% to -32%. Full-year 2026 core revenue is guided to $855 million to $865 million. CEO Andrew Feldman’s framing remains aggressive: “Cerebras’ wafer-scale technology delivers the fastest AI in the world. And fast AI is more valuable than slow AI because it is more productive.” Details are in the company’s Q1 2026 8-K.
Cramer’s comment about the multiple has data behind it. CBRS closed at $188.61 on July 27, down 39.37% from its post-IPO peak of $311.07 on May 14. The $20 billion, 750MW OpenAI inference deal is real, and so is customer concentration risk. That is the fork Cramer is trading around.
What Investors Should Watch Cramer is threading a specific needle: buying the profitable-turnaround AI beneficiary with government and NVIDIA backing while acknowledging Cerebras’s valuation reset. Reddit sentiment on INTC has skewed bearish to very bearish over the past 30 days, with retail investors flagging dot-com era valuations. That makes his call a contrarian one, anchored to Intel’s Q3 guide of $15.8 billion to $16.8 billion in revenue and non-GAAP EPS of $0.38. The next earnings report will tell investors whether the DCAI curve keeps bending up or whether Cerebras’s speed-of-inference pitch starts pulling incumbent CPU dollars.
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Intel uzavřel partnerství s Lens Technology na vývoji pokročilého pouzdření čipů s využitím skleněných substrátů. Cílí na vyšší výkon a nižší spotřebu pro AI PC, datová centra i edge computing.
Key Takeaways INTC partnered with Lens Technology to develop advanced glass substrate chip packaging.INTC will pair advanced packaging expertise with Lens Technology's glass manufacturing capabilities.Intel will explore AI PCs, data centers, robotics, industrial equipment and edge computing. Intel Corporation (INTC - Free Report) has partnered with Lens Technology to develop advanced glass substrate packaging for semiconductor chips. The collaboration aims to improve chip performance and power efficiency while supporting the growing demand for artificial intelligence (AI), data center and high-performance computing applications.
Under the agreement, Intel will leverage its expertise in semiconductor architecture and advanced packaging, while Lens Technology will contribute its capabilities in precision glass processing and large-scale manufacturing. By combining their complementary strengths, the companies plan to accelerate the development of glass substrate-based packaging solutions for next-generation computing platforms.
The partnership aligns with the semiconductor industry's increasing focus on advanced packaging as chip designs become more complex. Intel is expanding its efforts in glass substrate technology, which is expected to enable more efficient integration of chip components while meeting the performance requirements of future computing systems.
In addition, both companies will explore opportunities across AI PCs, data center infrastructure, robotics, industrial equipment and edge computing. These initiatives are likely to strengthen Intel's position in AI-driven markets while supporting its long-term growth strategy.
How Are Competitors Performing in Advanced Packaging?Intel faces competition from Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM - Free Report) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD - Free Report) . Qualcomm is expanding its focus on advanced packaging to support its AI and data center business. The company is developing multi-chiplet processors that use advanced packaging to improve performance, power efficiency and scalability. Qualcomm is enhancing its packaging capabilities to support end-to-end silicon development, accelerate time-to-market and minimize integration risk.
Advanced packaging is a key part of AMD's semiconductor strategy, helping it to improve chip performance, power efficiency and scalability. The company uses chiplet-based designs and advanced packaging technologies to integrate multiple computing components into a single processor. AMD continues to invest in packaging innovations to support growing demand for AI, data center and high-performance computing applications.
INTC’s Price Performance, Valuation & EstimatesShares of Intel have skyrocketed 343.3% over the past year compared with the industry’s growth of 23.7%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Going by the price/book ratio, the company's shares currently trade at 4.47 book value, lower than the industry average of 20.61.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
INTC’s earnings estimates for 2026 have increased 1.9% to $1.07 per share, while those for 2027 have increased 4.2% to $1.50 over the past 60 days.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Intel stock currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Intel a AMD v úterý prudce klesly, když investoři znovu přehodnotili výhled polovodičů kvůli rychlému postupu Číny v paměťových čipech a AI infrastruktuře. Intel odepsal asi 6 % a AMD zhruba 8 %.
Intel and AMD shares came under heavy selling pressure on Tuesday as investors reassessed the outlook for the semiconductor industry amid China's rapid advances in memory chips and artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Intel INTC stock fell about 6%, while AMD declined roughly 8%, extending a broader selloff across global semiconductor stocks.
The weakness followed sharp declines in Asian markets, where South Korea's Kospi dropped 10%, and Japan's Nikkei fell 4% as chipmakers came under pressure.
The latest pullback comes as investors grapple with rising competition from China, concerns over mounting AI infrastructure spending, and uncertainty ahead of earnings from major US technology companies.
A key catalyst behind the semiconductor selloff was the blockbuster market debut of Chinese memory-chip maker ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT).
The company raised 57.92 billion yuan ($8.6 billion) in its Shanghai initial public offering, making it Asia's largest listing of 2026.
Shares then surged 466% on their trading debut, pushing the company's market capitalization to roughly $487 billion and making it the most valuable company listed on mainland Chinese exchanges.
The strong debut highlighted growing optimism surrounding China's semiconductor ambitions and intensified concerns that domestic Chinese manufacturers could increasingly challenge established global memory suppliers.
Apple has reportedly begun testing CXMT memory chips for devices sold within China, while the company could gain additional customers if US restrictions on its products are eased.
Nomura analyst Donnie Teng expects further gains as AI demand accelerates.
“We expect CXMT’s market share gain to accelerate considering that the global supply of memory is unlikely to ease in the coming years.”
He added: “Strong demand for agentic AI will drive a more than sevenfold increase in global memory usage” by 2030.
Morningstar also said CXMT is well positioned to benefit from China's efforts to build a self-reliant semiconductor industry despite remaining behind global leaders technologically.
Investor sentiment has also weakened amid growing scrutiny over artificial intelligence spending by major technology companies.
A Wall Street Journal report that Nvidia could provide roughly $250 billion in financing support for OpenAI's planned data center project raised fresh questions about how aggressively semiconductor companies are investing in AI infrastructure and their own customers.
Intel, during its results, increased its capex outlook from $18 billion to $20 billion for 2026 and added that it would shoot further up for 2027.
The report came ahead of earnings from Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Amazon and Apple, with investors expected to closely examine whether massive AI investments are producing adequate returns.
Growing competition from China has added another layer of uncertainty after reports emerged that Chinese companies have begun producing advanced chipmaking equipment domestically.
Despite Tuesday's decline, AMD continued expanding its artificial intelligence infrastructure footprint.
The company announced an agreement with Core Scientific to secure access to as much as 2.5 gigawatts of AI-ready data center capacity.
The partnership initially provides AMD customers access to more than 500 megawatts of capacity beginning in 2027, with room for future expansion.
Core Scientific, which has increasingly shifted from cryptocurrency mining toward AI and high-performance computing infrastructure, will also collaborate with AMD on physical data center design as well as deployment of AMD chips and software.
Wall Street analysts remain largely optimistic on AMD despite the recent weakness.
Among 45 analysts covering the stock, the consensus rating is "Strong Buy," including 35 Strong Buy ratings, two Moderate Buys and eight Holds.
Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh recently reiterated a Buy rating while raising his price target to $625, implying approximately 26.3% upside from current levels.
For Intel, the Wall Street consensus is Moderate Buy, based on 11 Strong Buy ratings, one Moderate Buy, 31 Holds, and two Strong Sells among the 45 analysts covering the stock.
Intel (INTC -0.89%) has been a monster stock so far in 2026. It has risen by around 150%, but it's still well below its peak. Intel's stock has plummeted around 35% from its all-time high, set just a few weeks ago at the end of June.
Since then, Intel has reported some incredible figures, including one that broke a nearly 15-year-old record. That points to an imminent turnaround and could justify some of Intel's incredible performance over the past year.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Investors are likely taking gains Intel is a true turnaround story. Last year, rumors were swirling about its semiconductor foundry business being shut down due to a lack of clients. However, thanks to an investment from the U.S. government and Nvidia, that hasn't happened, and Intel appears to be turning the corner.
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This was confirmed by a stellar Q2 earnings report in which Intel delivered 25% revenue growth -- its best since 2011. That's a clear sign that Intel could finally be turning the corner, and a closer look reveals that its foundry business grew at 31%.
That's exactly what investors were looking for, but it will take several quarters before the market declares Intel's turnaround complete. Intel's stock is still highly valued, and it will take a few years to return to a reasonable valuation.
INTC PE Ratio (Forward) data by YCharts
At 60 times forward earnings and 46 times next year's earnings, the stock price has accounted for nearly all of Intel's short-term success. As a result, investors are likely taking some gains off the table amid the current sell-off. There's nothing wrong with that, as Intel's stock has been a monster winner over the year since the investment from the U.S. government and Nvidia was announced.
But does that mean now is the time to buy the dip? I don't think so.
There is currently negative sentiment surrounding the AI build-out. That may flip after big tech earnings conclude, but with the market worried about an AI overbuild, I don't see this sentiment ending anytime soon, and it could lead to a further sell-off in Intel's stock.
Intel just delivered the biggest news for investors in over a decade, reporting rapid growth, and the stock still sold off. That should tell you a lot about the sentiment behind Intel's stock, and I think smart investors are staying patient until the sell-off stabilizes.
Intel oznámil prvního jmenovaného zákazníka pro svůj foundry byznys: Fortinet bude s jeho pomocí vyvíjet pokročilé bezpečnostní čipy. Pro Intel je to signál, že jeho služby foundry začínají přitahovat velké klienty.
Computer company Intel (INTC -0.89%) has been soaring in value over the past year amid excitement and potential for its foundry business. Recently, the company signed a large customer: Fortinet, which will use Intel to develop advanced security chips. While it's not the first customer for the foundry business, it is the first named one.
This is a great sign for Intel's foundry that it is winning over big-name customers such as Fortinet, which is a leader in cybersecurity solutions and services that generated nearly $7 billion in revenue last year. Does this deal make Intel, whose stock is already up 150% this year, an even better investment?
Image source: Getty Images.
Intel's foundry business has been growing, but profits remain elusive The announcement of a major customer, Fortinet, is a great sign of progress for Intel's foundry business, as it shows that its services are competitive. Winning over large customers will inevitably be crucial for it to be the growth machine many investors hope it can be. Taking market share from a low-cost manufacturer such as Taiwan Semiconductor, which dominates the market, will be no easy task. But if Intel can secure larger customers, that is a great sign its business is moving in the right direction.
Last week, Intel reported its second-quarter earnings for the period ending June 27, with revenue of $16.1 billion, up 25% year over year. Its foundry business was among its most promising growth areas, with revenue of $5.8 billion growing by 31%. However, it still incurred a $2.1 billion loss. But the good news is that's an improvement from the $3.2 billion loss it posted a year ago.
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Is Intel's stock a good buy right now? Intel is doing well of late, but the biggest problem with the stock may be that these recent results, as impressive as they are, may already be priced in to its valuation. It's trading at a forward price-to-earnings multiple of more than 100, based on analyst expectations, and thus it may be difficult to justify buying the stock at its elevated valuation.
There's been tremendous hype and excitement around Intel over the past year as it has secured high-profile deals and even received an investment from the U.S. government. There may still be room for the stock to rise higher, especially if Intel's business continues to grow at a strong rate, but at such a high valuation, there's also significant downside risk that investors need to consider.
David Jagielski, CPA has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Fortinet, Intel, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Intel za 2. čtvrtletí 2026 oznámil upravený EPS 0,42 USD a tržby 16,1 miliardy USD, obojí výrazně nad odhady. Zároveň zvýšil výhled capex na 20 miliard USD pro rok 2026.
Intel (INTC -1.91%) recently delivered blowout earnings results for the second quarter of 2026.
Adjusted earnings per share of $0.42 came in double what Wall Street analysts had been expecting, while revenue of $16.1 billion came in nearly $1.7 billion higher than consensus estimates.
“Strong demand for our products continue to outpace our growing supply,” Intel’s CEO Lip-Bu Tan said on the company’s earnings call. “The surging demand and rapid build-out of compute infrastructure across the world creates a meaningful opportunity for us in our product business as well as our foundry business.”
Intel also provided strong guidance for the current quarter, estimating adjusted EPS of $0.38 and revenue between $15.8 billion and $16.8 billion. Both came in higher than analysts had been modeling.
The positive news, however, has done little for Intel’s stock, which is down nearly 33% over the past month.
Is Intel a buy after its latest earnings report?
Image source: The Motley Fool.
High capex continues to plague AI stocksWhile the top- and bottom-line numbers looked great, Intel also raised its 2026 capital expenditure guidance to $20 billion, up about $2 billion from prior guidance.
Intel’s CFO David Zinsner also said it expects capex in 2027 “to be significantly above the 2026 levels.” Zinsner said Intel remains disciplined with capex and is spending only in areas where it sees good long-term returns.
All artificial intelligence stocks that have raised their capex guides have come under pressure, as investors question whether these massive investments can yield adequate returns.
Some analysts are also concerned that Intel will be forced to raise capital to fund its spending ambitions.
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“The prospect of shareholder dilution and continued pressure on free cash flow are likely to weigh on investor sentiment and cap the stock’s upside over the short to medium term,” Hendi Susanto, a portfolio manager at Gabellie Funds, told Barrons.
However, some analysts view the increased capex guidance as evidence that Intel will be able to acquire more customers and see demand flow through.
Intel’s strong results in the recent quarter have led to a big turnaround for the stock, which is up nearly 128% this year and roughly 335% over the past year.
The question is, how much revenue and earnings growth has the market already pulled forward?
If you were to annualize Intel’s projected adjusted EPS of $0.38, that means Intel still trades at about 59 times forward earnings. On revenue, the valuation looks more reasonable with the stock trading at 7.2 times forward earnings.
Intel falls into the same category as many other AI stocks right now.
The stock took off when investors realized that central processing units (CPUs), a product Intel has always excelled in, play a critical role in AI infrastructure, particularly for powering agentic AI, systems that can carry out autonomous tasks.
But now that the easy money has been made, Intel’s success partly depends on AI demand continuing to ramp. That looks likely this year and next, but even the faintest signs of slowing AI demand could hit many of these stocks hard.
Intel also has a newer Foundry business for chip manufacturing, but the company is still reportedly seeking an anchor customer.
While the pullback in shares over the past month makes Intel stock more reasonable, it still carries risk, so I would start with a small position and dollar-cost average for now.
The stock will do well if AI demand continues to rise, but shares are likely to be highly volatile.
Better late than never: Intel (INTC -8.02%) has officially joined the artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure boom, with the company seeing its data center and AI segment revenue surge in the second quarter. Shares jumped in after-hours trading, but Intel gave back those gains after management acknowledged the company would meaningfully increase its capital expenditures (capex) this year. Punishing AI stocks that increase their capex has been a major theme this earnings season.
Intel's stock has now lost about a third of its value from its recent highs. However, its shares are still up more than 150% on the year and over 300% in the past 12 months.
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Server CPUs lead the way The biggest driver of Intel's growth was data center central processing units (CPUs). Demand for server CPUs has increased in the second quarter on a sequential basis and management expects double-digit industry growth both this year and next, with momentum continuing into 2028. Meanwhile, demand continues to far outstrip supply, leading to higher CPU prices across the board.
This helped lead to a 59% jump in its data center and AI product revenue to $6.3 billion. Its client computing group product revenue rose 13% year over year to $8.9 billion, leading to total product revenue climbing 28% to $15.1 billion. That was a big step up from the 9% rise in product revenue it saw in Q1.
Intel's foundry business, meanwhile, saw revenue surge 31% to $5.8 billion. However, the segment continues to post large operating losses, with a $2.1 billion loss in the quarter. Revenue from Intel's other businesses sank 33% year over year to $0.7 billion, largely due to the sale of 51% of its Altera subsidiary.
Overall revenue for Intel climbed 25% to $16.1 billion, its fastest growth in almost 15 years. Its adjusted earnings per share went from a loss of $0.10 to a profit of $0.42. This was bolstered by a big 1,290 basis-point increase in its gross margins to 40.4%.
Looking ahead, Intel projected Q3 revenue to be between $15.8 billion and $16.8 billion with adjusted EPS of $0.38. That was well ahead of the $0.27 in EPS and $15.1 billion in sales that analysts were expecting. It projected gross margins to be around 41%.
It expects supply constraints to affect it next quarter, with improvements starting to show up toward the end of the quarter and into Q4. It also raised its projected capex, taking its 2026 budget from initial guidance of around $17 billion to $18 billion to over $20 billion. Capital expenditures for 2027, meanwhile, are expected to be significantly above 2026 levels.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
While Intel is starting to see strong momentum in its data center and AI segment, this seems more driven by the sudden need of hyperscalers to grab whatever server CPUs they can to help handle agentic AI than by any big moves that the company has made. CPU demand is through the roof, which is helping with pricing in its client computing group segments. And while its foundry business is gaining some traction, it remains a money-draining business during one of the biggest semiconductor booms of all time.
Before its run, Intel was a cheap stock barely trading above the value of its physical assets. Now it has a forward P/E of 105, and the stock's valuation looks bloated for a company that seems more like a passenger than one helping to drive the market. I think there are better AI stocks out there to buy.
Intel rozšiřuje AI napříč PC, podniky i cloudem a současně zvyšuje výrobu na Intel 18A, zatímco pokračuje vývoj 14A. Firma těží z rostoucí poptávky po AI infrastruktuře.
Key Takeaways Intel is expanding AI across PCs, enterprise systems, edge computing and AI infrastructure.INTC ramped Intel 18A production while advancing 14A development and advanced packaging.Intel is growing AI infrastructure exposure through Xeon, networking, custom silicon and cloud partnerships. Artificial intelligence is reshaping the semiconductor industry, creating new opportunities across data centers, enterprise computing, networking and advanced manufacturing. For Intel Corporation (INTC - Free Report) , these trends are driving a broader transformation that extends well beyond its traditional PC business.
The company's ability to capitalize on AI infrastructure demand while executing its manufacturing roadmap will likely play a central role in determining its long-term growth trajectory.
Intel Pushes AI Beyond Traditional PCsIntel is expanding its AI strategy across commercial and consumer markets by integrating artificial intelligence capabilities into PCs, enterprise systems and edge computing platforms. The company has repositioned its client business around both traditional computing and physical AI applications, reflecting growing demand for local AI processing across a wider range of devices.
Beyond AI PCs, Intel continues investing in enterprise AI infrastructure, robotics and edge deployments. Its expanding portfolio enables customers to process AI workloads closer to where data is generated, supporting applications that require lower latency, enhanced security and improved real-time performance.
INTC Advances the Next Foundry CycleIntel's manufacturing roadmap continues to make measurable progress. The company has ramped Intel 18A into volume production for multiple products while reporting improving yields, higher factory output and better cycle times across its manufacturing network.
Looking ahead, Intel remains on track with Intel 14A development, including continued progress on process technology and customer engagement. At the same time, advanced packaging technologies such as EMIB-T and growing external foundry relationships highlight Intel's broader effort to transform its manufacturing business into a long-term competitive advantage serving both internal products and third-party customers.
Intel Benefits From AI Infrastructure DemandAI infrastructure demand is expanding well beyond graphics processors, creating opportunities across CPUs, networking, custom silicon and advanced packaging. Intel is benefiting from stronger adoption of Xeon processors as enterprises and hyperscale customers build increasingly sophisticated AI environments.
The company is also strengthening its position through networking products, purpose-built silicon, advanced packaging technologies and collaborations with enterprise customers and cloud providers. These initiatives support Intel's participation across multiple layers of AI infrastructure rather than concentrating on a single product category.
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD - Free Report) continues expanding its presence in server processors and AI computing, while NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA - Free Report) remains the market leader in AI accelerators. Intel's diversified product portfolio and manufacturing capabilities provide an alternative competitive approach as enterprise AI deployments continue to broaden.
INTC Navigates Industry HeadwindsDespite favorable industry trends, Intel continues operating in a highly competitive and capital-intensive environment. Manufacturing execution remains essential as the company scales advanced process technologies while balancing production costs and customer commitments.
Broader industry challenges also remain. Supply constraints affecting leading-edge components, fluctuations in memory markets, aggressive competition across CPUs, GPUs, networking and application-specific integrated circuits, along with elevated capital spending requirements, could influence how effectively Intel converts emerging AI opportunities into sustained financial growth.
How Intel's Rating Reflects the Trend StoryIntel's strategic transformation is increasingly tied to long-term technology trends rather than the traditional PC replacement cycle. Continued execution across AI products, manufacturing and foundry services will remain critical as these opportunities evolve.
The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), reflecting improving earnings estimate momentum. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. However, its VGM Score of D indicates that its overall combination of value, growth and momentum characteristics remains relatively modest. The Value Score of F and Growth Score of C contrast with a stronger Momentum Score of B, suggesting the market currently places greater weight on Intel's improving operational momentum while investors continue to monitor whether long-term execution translates into stronger value and growth characteristics.
Key Takeaways Intel is expanding beyond PCs with AI, enterprise, edge computing, foundry and autonomous driving businesses.Intel's foundry utilization, yields and factory output improved, with narrower operating losses.INTC's growing AI adoption through Xeon, AI PCs, networking, packaging and cloud and enterprise partnerships. Intel Corporation (INTC - Free Report) is reshaping its business around artificial intelligence, enterprise infrastructure and advanced manufacturing as it reduces its reliance on the traditional PC market. The company's long-term investment case increasingly depends on its ability to execute across these strategic priorities while strengthening its manufacturing leadership.
Recent results suggest Intel is making progress. Stronger demand for AI infrastructure, improving foundry execution and expanding customer adoption across multiple product categories are helping reinforce confidence in its turnaround strategy.
Intel Expands Beyond the PC MarketIntel has steadily diversified beyond its legacy PC business by focusing on data-centric markets that include AI infrastructure, enterprise computing, edge computing and autonomous driving. Its operating structure now reflects this transition, with dedicated businesses serving client computing, data center and AI, manufacturing, networking and Mobileye's autonomous driving platform.
A major strategic shift has been the adoption of Intel's internal foundry operating model. By separating product development from manufacturing operations, the company aims to improve transparency, accountability and cost discipline while increasing manufacturing efficiency. The structure also supports Intel's broader ambition to become a leading foundry serving both internal products and third-party customers.
INTC Builds Momentum Across AI PlatformsArtificial intelligence has become a key growth driver across Intel's portfolio. Demand for Xeon processors continues to strengthen as enterprises and hyperscale customers expand AI infrastructure beyond graphics processors into CPUs, networking and purpose-built silicon. The company has also broadened its AI offerings with AI PCs, Arc Pro graphics solutions, networking products and advanced packaging technologies.
Intel is expanding customer adoption through partnerships spanning cloud providers, enterprise customers and industry-specific AI deployments. Continued investment in purpose-built silicon, physical AI and advanced packaging should further strengthen its position across data center, edge and enterprise workloads.
Competition remains intense from Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD - Free Report) , which continues expanding its presence in data center processors and AI accelerators. NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA - Free Report) also remains a dominant force in AI infrastructure through its GPU ecosystem, underscoring the importance of Intel's differentiated CPU, networking and manufacturing strategy.
Intel Foundry Becomes a Strategic Growth EngineIntel Foundry has become one of the company's most important long-term growth initiatives. The business reported improving factory utilization, better manufacturing yields and significantly higher factory output, while operating losses narrowed as production efficiency improved.
Management also highlighted meaningful reductions in Panther Lake wafer costs, continued progress on Intel 18A manufacturing and development milestones for Intel 14A. External customer engagement continues to expand alongside growing demand for advanced packaging services, reinforcing Intel's effort to establish foundry services as a meaningful long-term revenue driver.
INTC Faces Execution and Competitive RisksDespite encouraging progress, Intel still faces significant execution challenges. Manufacturing leadership depends on successfully ramping advanced process technologies while maintaining cost discipline and meeting customer commitments.
The competitive landscape also remains challenging across CPUs, GPUs, application-specific integrated circuits, networking and custom silicon. Elevated capital expenditures, ongoing industry supply constraints and geopolitical uncertainty could continue creating operational and financial headwinds as Intel scales its manufacturing investments.
How Intel's Rating Fits the Current ThesisIntel's long-term outlook increasingly depends on consistent execution across AI products, manufacturing and foundry services. Continued progress in these areas could strengthen its competitive positioning as enterprise AI adoption expands.
The stock currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), reflecting improving earnings momentum. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. However, its VGM Score of D suggests its overall combination of value, growth and momentum characteristics remains relatively weak. That weaker composite score largely reflects a Value Score of F and Growth Score of C, although the Momentum Score of B indicates comparatively stronger price and earnings momentum. Together, these measures suggest that while earnings expectations have improved, investors may still want to balance Intel's improving momentum against its more modest value and growth characteristics before making investment decisions.
Po silných výsledcích za 2Q26 zvedl Seaport Global Securities cílovou cenu pro Intel z 90 USD na 125 USD a potvrdil doporučení Buy. Hrubá marže se poprvé za dva roky vrátila nad 40 %.
Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) delivered one of its strongest earnings beats in years on July 24, prompting some analysts to revise their Intel stock price targets.
For instance, Seaport Global Securities has raised its Intel stock prediction 2026 from $90 to $125 while reiterating a “Buy” rating, citing strong quarterly results and an improving outlook.
Specifically, the brokerage highlighted that Intel’s return to gross margins were above 40% for the first time in two years, which is seen as a key sign that the company’s turnaround is gaining traction.
Seaport also pointed to management’s decision to increase capital expenditure forecast for 2026 and likely 2027, arguing the chipmaker would not commit without securing meaningful customer demand. Intel’s confirmation that its 14A manufacturing process remains on track seems to support this.
Intel share price YTD. Source: Finbold DA Davidson raises INTC stock price target to $100 DA Davidson also raised its price target on Intel, lifting it from $77 to $100 while maintaining a “Neutral” rating. Analysts noted that the latest quarterly results exceeded Wall Street expectations on both revenue and earnings, which shows the growing importance of the firm’s CPU business.
“We maintain our NEUTRAL rating and raise our price target to $100 from $77 on INTC following strong 2Q26 earnings that were highlighted by a significant beat on top and bottom-line expectations,” DA Davidson wrote.
Moreover, DA Davidson pointed to increased capital expenditure plans as a sign that leadership is continuing to attract new customers as demand for domestic semiconductor manufacturing accelerates in the United States.
Cantor Fitzgerald cuts Intel stock price target Conversely, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered its Intel share price forecast from $150 to $125, albeit while reiterating a “Neutral” rating and stating that the long-term outlook still remains promising.
On the more cautious end, Cantor pointed to uncertainty surrounding Intel’s client computing business, server CPU market share losses, and lack of new customer announcements. In addition, the brokerage also noted ongoing speculation that Intel could pursue an equity raise.
Nonetheless, the firm remains constructive on Intel, especially thanks to its ties to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE: TSM), which could strengthen both the company and the U.S. semiconductor industry.
Overall, Cantor concluded that investors are likely not going to be more bullish until Intel shows greater revenue potential in its front- and back-end manufacturing operations.
Featured image via Shutterstock
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Just three months after warning that its next-generation 14A manufacturing process could be delayed—or even abandoned—without enough customer demand, Intel has officially committed to high-volume production in 2028.
The decision removes one of the biggest questions hanging over Intel Foundry. It also starts a new countdown. After committing billions of dollars to the technology, Intel now has roughly two years to prove customers will place enough orders to justify the investment.
Three Months Changed EverythingEarlier this year, Intel made it clear that 14A wasn’t guaranteed.
In its first-quarter filing, the company said future investments in 14A and factory expansion would depend on securing meaningful external customer commitments and achieving acceptable returns on capital.
This quarter, that language changed materially.
CEO Lip-Bu Tan said Intel has “made the decision in Q2 to fully commit to high volume ramps in 2028,” citing stronger customer engagement, rising demand from Intel’s own product roadmap and encouraging technical progress across the node.
“We remain on track for 14A risk production for our internal products in the second half of 2027,” Tan said, adding that the company is seeing “increasing momentum on customer engagements” and growing confidence that 14A will be competitive on performance, power, density, cost and schedule.
CFO Dave Zinsner echoed that message, saying Intel increased investments during the quarter to prepare for 14A risk production in 2027 while committing to high-volume manufacturing the following year.
The Countdown Has StartedThe commitment doesn’t mean Intel’s foundry turnaround is complete.
Far from it.
Intel still reported a $2.1 billion operating loss in its Foundry business during the quarter, although operating margin improved to negative 36.2% from negative 71.7% a year earlier as revenue climbed to $5.8 billion, according to the earnings presentation.
The company also entered risk production for 18A-P, while the next major milestone for 14A—the 0.9 Process Design Kit (PDK)—remains on track for October, giving prospective customers another opportunity to evaluate the technology before committing future chip designs.
The company’s latest Form 10-Q also makes clear that the investment case now hinges on converting technical momentum into commercial success. Intel said it intends to accelerate manufacturing expansion projects for 14A, but “the scale and pace” of those investments will ultimately depend on demand from Intel’s own products and design wins from major external foundry customers.
For investors, the story is no longer whether Intel will build 14A.
It’s whether, by 2028, enough customers will be waiting for it.
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Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Intel v pátek před otevřením trhu vzrostl o 6 % poté, co silný výhled tržeb za 3. čtvrtletí naznačil, že AI podporuje obrat firmy. Společnost zároveň zvýšila letošní kapitálové výdaje na 20 miliard USD z 18 miliard USD.
Computer motherboard and Intel chip appear in this illustration taken August 25, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
July 24 (Reuters) - Intel's (INTC.O), opens new tab shares rose 6% in premarket trading on Friday after bullish forecasts signaled the AI boom was propelling the chipmaker's long-awaited turnaround.
The company forecast third-quarter revenue above Wall Street expectations and raised this year's capital expenditure estimate to $20 billion from $18 billion.
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Intel's improving outlook reflects growing adoption of its data center central processing units (CPUs) by customers building infrastructure for artificial intelligence, as CEO Lip-Bu Tan works to position the company as a broader beneficiary of AI-driven semiconductor demand despite Nvidia's (NVDA.O), opens new tab lead in accelerator chips.
"The capex increase not only signals confidence in cash flow upside and demand visibility from long-term agreements for products, but also confidence that Foundry customers are coming (for packaging and 14A wafers)," analysts at Melius Research said.
This month's selloff in global chip stocks has pushed Intel off record highs, but the shares have more than doubled this year, driven by optimism around the company's turnaround efforts.
The strong results prompted at least six analysts to raise their price targets, leaving the median target about 8.8% above the stock's last close, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Tan has spent the past year strengthening Intel's finances, securing backing from the U.S. government and major investors as the chipmaker seeks to play a key role in Washington's push to revive domestic semiconductor manufacturing.
"The aggressive capex raise is a proof point that Intel is likely to see continued customer acquisition as the United States demands more domestic semiconductor manufacturing," D.A. Davidson analysts said.
Demand for data center CPUs has surged alongside the rise of AI agents, with Intel executives noting earlier this year that orders were running ahead of the company's production capacity.
Reporting by Joel Jose in Bengaluru; Editing by Amanda Cooper and Devika Syamnath
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab
John Pitzer - Corporate Vice President of Corporate Planning & Investor Relations
Lip-Bu Tan - CEO & Director
David Zinsner - Executive VP, CFO and Principal Financial & Accounting Officer
Conference Call Participants
Benjamin Reitzes - Melius Research LLC
Joseph Moore - Morgan Stanley, Research Division
Stacy Rasgon - Bernstein Institutional Services LLC, Research Division
Timothy Arcuri - UBS Investment Bank, Research Division
Vivek Arya - BofA Securities, Research Division
Christopher Muse - Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., Research Division
Aaron Rakers - Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Research Division
Presentation
Operator
Thank you for standing by, and welcome to Intel Corporation's Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, today's program is being recorded.
And now I'd like to introduce your host for today's program, Mr. John Pitzer, Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.
John Pitzer
Corporate Vice President of Corporate Planning & Investor Relations
Thank you, Jonathan, and good afternoon to everyone joining us today. By now, you should have received a copy of the Q2 earnings release and presentation. Both are available on our Investor Relations website, intc.com. For those joining us online today, this presentation is also available on our webcast window.
I am joined today by our CEO, Lip-Bu Tan; and our CFO, David Zinsner. Lip-Bu will open up with comments on second quarter results and update the progress we're making on strategic priorities. Dave will then discuss our overall financial results, including third quarter guidance before we transition to answer your questions.
Before we begin, please note that today's presentation does contain forward-looking statements based on the environment as we currently see it. As such, they are subject to various risks and uncertainties. It also contains reference to non-GAAP financial measures that we believe provide useful
Intel měl silné čtvrtletí, když tržby divize Data Center meziročně vzrostly téměř o 60 % a provozní marže stoupla na 39,5 %. Přesto je podle článku valuace stále napjatá a hodnocení akcií bylo sníženo na Sell.
SummaryIntel Corporation posted a strong Q2, with Data Center revenue up nearly 60% YoY and operating margin rising to 39.5%.INTC’s turnaround is gaining traction, but its valuation remains stretched, trading at a premium to AMD, Broadcom, and Nvidia even on optimistic assumptions.Despite operational improvements and positive guidance, much of the future upside appears already priced in, limiting shareholder yield potential.I’m downgrading INTC to a Sell, as robust execution is outweighed by an inflated valuation and limited margin of safety. Getty Images
The Intel Corporation (INTC) thesis right now seems a bit strange to me. Sure, it has a bit of turnaround characteristics, as well as some secular trends that the company can ride to improve its earnings. But it also has
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Intel ve 2. čtvrtletí vykázal zisk 0,42 USD na akcii a tržby 16,13 miliardy USD, obojí nad odhady. Loni ve stejném období byl ve ztrátě 0,10 USD na akcii.
Intel (INTC - Free Report) came out with quarterly earnings of $0.42 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.21 per share. This compares to a loss of $0.1 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items.
This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of +100.00%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this world's largest chipmaker would post earnings of $0.01 per share when it actually produced earnings of $0.29, delivering a surprise of +2800%.
Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates four times.
Intel, which belongs to the Zacks Semiconductor - General industry, posted revenues of $16.13 billion for the quarter ended June 2026, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 11.89%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $12.86 billion. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates four times over the last four quarters.
The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call.
Intel shares have added about 178.1% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 9.6%.
What's Next for Intel?While Intel has outperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock?
There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately.
Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions.
Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Intel was favorable. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to outperform the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and the current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $0.25 on $15.08 billion in revenues for the coming quarter and $1.07 on $58.71 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year.
Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Semiconductor - General is currently in the top 3% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1.
Another stock from the same industry, Amtech Systems (ASYS - Free Report) , has yet to report results for the quarter ended June 2026. The results are expected to be released on August 5.
This provider of equipment for solar panel and semiconductor makers is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.10 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +66.7%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days.
Amtech Systems' revenues are expected to be $21.5 million, up 9.9% from the year-ago quarter.
Intel ve 2. čtvrtletí překonal odhady díky silné poptávce po AI a datových centrech. Tržby vzrostly na 16,1 miliardy USD a firma zlepšila výhled na 3. čtvrtletí.
Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC, XETRA:INL) shares jumped nearly 11% in after-hours trading after the chipmaker reported second quarter results that exceeded Wall Street expectations, driven by stronger demand across its data center and client computing businesses and a better-than-expected outlook for the third quarter.
The company reported second quarter revenue of $16.1 billion, up 25% from a year earlier and above analyst expectations of $14.43 billion.
Adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.42, compared with consensus estimates of $0.21 per share.
Intel’s Data Center and AI segment generated $6.3 billion in revenue during the quarter, topping analyst expectations of $5.54 billion and rising 59% year over year. The Client Computing and Physical AI Group reported revenue of $8.9 billion, up 13% year over year and ahead of estimates of $7.99 billion.
Intel forecast third quarter revenue of $15.8 billion to $16.8 billion, above Wall Street expectations of $15.1 billion.
The company expects adjusted earnings per share of $0.38, compared with analyst estimates of $0.27.
“AI is driving unprecedented demand for compute, and as we continue to execute, Intel is well-positioned to capture sustainable growth across our CPU franchise, ASICs, advanced packaging and vast wafer foundry network,” Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan said in a statement.
“Our Q2 results represent our strongest revenue growth in more than fifteen years, enabled by greater speed, accountability, and customer focus.”
Intel CFO Dave Zinsner wrote that the company delivered a strong quarter “on robust demand and improved execution,” including higher factory yields and improved cycle times.
He added that AI-driven compute demand continues to strengthen and that Intel is increasing investments in equipment, clean room space and substrates to support expected growth.
Intel zveřejní výsledky za 2. čtvrtletí po uzavření trhu ve čtvrtek; analytici čekají zisk 22 centů na akcii a tržby 14,45 miliardy USD. Akcie ve středu klesly o 2,7 %.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) will release its second quarter earnings report after the closing bell on Thursday, July 23.
Analysts expect the Santa Clara, California-based company to report quarterly earnings of 22 cents per share, versus a loss of 10 cents per share in the year-ago period. The consensus estimate for Intel’s quarterly revenue is $14.45 billion. It reported $12.86 billion last year, according to Benzinga Pro.
On July 21, Intel and Fortinet announced a strategic collaboration to develop Fortinet Security Processor 6.
Intel shares fell 2.7% to close at $102.62 on Wednesday.
Benzinga readers can access the latest analyst ratings on the Analyst Stock Ratings page. Readers can sort by stock ticker, company name, analyst firm, rating change or other variables.
Let’s have a look at how Benzinga’s most-accurate analysts have rated the company in the recent period.
Considering buying INTC stock? Here’s what analysts think:
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Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Intel a AMD uzavírají s čínskými zákazníky dlouhodobější závazky na dodávky serverových CPU, protože ceny v Číně dál rostou. U některých produktů jsou letos výše o více než 40 %.
Item 1 of 2 An Intel logo appears in this illustration taken August 25, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
[1/2]An Intel logo appears in this illustration taken August 25, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
SummaryCompaniesIntel, AMD seek longer China server CPU supply commitmentsAI data-centre boom strains supply beyond GPUs into mainstream processorsChina server CPU prices up more than 40% this year for some productsBEIJING, July 23 (Reuters) - U.S. chipmaking giants Intel (INTC.O), opens new tab and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O), opens new tab are signing longer-term purchase commitments with Chinese server customers for data-centre processors as prices surge, two people familiar with the talks said.
The move highlights a broader consequence of the AI boom: demand has spread beyond AI accelerators to memory, networking gear and server processors, giving suppliers greater leverage to seek long-term purchase deals.
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AI data centres require not only Nvidia-style graphics processors (GPUs) but also large numbers of central processing units (CPUs) to support servers, storage, networking and inference workloads.
The agreements under discussion typically lock in purchase volumes but not prices, the people said. Most cover about a year of supply, although Intel and AMD have discussed commitments of two years or longer from some customers, one of the people said.
The shift echoes trends in the memory-chip market, opens new tab, where the AI-driven shortage has pushed buyers toward longer-term supply commitments.
The sources declined to be identified because they were not authorised to speak to the media. Intel and AMD did not respond to requests for comment.
The talks mark a shift for server CPUs, which have been easier to obtain than AI accelerators or memory chips.
Tighter CPU supply could raise costs and slow deployment for Chinese cloud providers and internet companies expanding AI services.
Server CPU prices are still climbing in China, with month-on-month increases topping 10% for some products, one of the sources said. Prices of some CPU products have risen more than 40% in China since the start of the year, the source added.
Reuters reported earlier this year that Intel and AMD had notified Chinese customers of lengthy waits for server CPUs, with Intel lead times reaching as long as six months for some products.
The CPU shortage will be among the key topics likely to be addressed on Thursday when Intel reports its quarterly results.
CEO Lip-Bu Tan told analysts in April that demand "continues to run ahead of supply," especially for Xeon server CPUs. He also cited a multi-year deal with Google as one of several long-term contracts Intel signed in the first quarter.
AMD, due to report in early August, already raised its server CPU market forecast to more than $120 billion by 2030, citing strong demand related to agentic AI workloads.
China is one of the world's largest server markets, fuelled by rapid construction of data centre racks, AI computing clusters and national computing infrastructure.
The buildout has intensified competition for Intel and AMD processors, even as Chinese buyers face separate U.S. restrictions on access to the most advanced AI GPUs.
Editing by Miyoung Kim and Kim Coghill
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab
Eduardo Baptista is a Senior Correspondent for Reuters based in Beijing, covering China’s technology, space, and automotive industries. He has led enterprise and investigative reporting on China’s military-linked companies, artificial intelligence and semiconductor supply chains, as well as macroeconomic and industrial policy. Baptista has reported from China for nearly a decade and holds a BA in History from the University of Cambridge.
Intel oznámil prvního veřejně jmenovaného externího zákazníka pro své služby foundry: Fortinet využije jeho výrobu pro čip SP6 na procesu Intel 4. Akcie v úterý uzavřely na 105,40 USD po růstu o více než 8 %.
Intel (INTC -2.47%) CEO Lip-Bu Tan told CNBC in May that "multiple customers" were working with the company's foundry business, but that it was his personal policy not to name them. On Tuesday, Intel finally named one.
Cybersecurity specialist Fortinet will use Intel's foundry (the business that manufactures chips for other companies) to produce its next-generation security chip, called the SP6, the two companies announced. The chip will be built on the Intel 4 process, and Fortinet becomes the first named outside customer for the foundry since Tan took over in March 2025.
Investors saw plenty to like. Intel shares jumped more than 8% on Tuesday to close at $105.40, adding to a run that has lifted the stock more than 300% over the past year.
And the timing raises the stakes. Intel reports second-quarter results after the market closes on Thursday, July 23.
So what does the Fortinet deal actually prove -- and what should investors watch for in the report?
Image source: Intel.
A name matters more than the chip Intel's foundry effort has never lacked announcements. What it has lacked is named, committed customers. And Intel has yet to land a major one for its most advanced manufacturing processes, known as 14A and 18A.
That history is what makes the Fortinet deal both encouraging and limited.
On the positive side, a company has now publicly committed a next-generation product to Intel's manufacturing. That is the kind of outside validation the foundry strategy has been missing, and it arguably makes the next customer conversation easier. Fortinet is a credible name, too. The cybersecurity company's dedicated security chips serve a market where demand has been climbing for years.
However, the SP6 will be built on Intel 4. That's an older, less advanced process, introduced in 2023 for the compute tile in Intel's own Core Ultra PC chips -- not the leading-edge technology Intel's turnaround ultimately depends on. A named customer on Intel 4 is progress. It isn't the marquee win that would prove Intel can manufacture the industry's most advanced chips in large quantities.
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The economics are still tiny The deal's financial weight is the other reason to stay level-headed. In the first quarter, Intel Foundry generated $5.4 billion of revenue, up 16% year over year. But nearly all of that came from making Intel's own products. External foundry revenue (money from manufacturing chips for outside customers) was just $174 million in the quarter. That's a sliver for a company that posted $13.6 billion in total revenue.
Demand for Intel's own chips, at least, is trending the right way -- even as the company confirmed this week that it is trimming jobs in that same data center unit. First-quarter revenue in the company's data center and artificial intelligence (AI) segment rose 22% year over year, faster than the company's overall 7% growth rate.
"The next wave of AI will bring intelligence closer to the end user," Tan said in the company's first-quarter earnings release, adding that the shift "is significantly increasing the need for Intel's CPUs and wafer and advanced packaging offerings."
Even so, Intel's reported bottom line is still in the red while it builds out capacity. The company posted a net loss of $3.7 billion in the first quarter -- though $4.1 billion of restructuring and impairment charges, largely a writedown of Mobileye goodwill, more than accounted for it. On a non-GAAP basis, which strips out those and other items, Intel earned $1.5 billion.
That's what makes Thursday's report the more important event of the week. Investors should watch three things: the trajectory of external foundry revenue, the size of the net loss, and any sign that a significant leading-edge customer is getting closer.
And the stock's run complicates the setup. After rising more than 300% in a year, Intel trades at nearly 90 times forward earnings -- a multiple that assumes the turnaround works, not one that leaves room for it to stumble. For a company still in the red on a reported basis, that is a lot of confidence to carry into an earnings report. And Tuesday's move, which came amid a broad chip-sector rally, showed how eager the market is to reward any scrap of foundry progress.
The Fortinet announcement is the first outside proof point of the Tan era, and I don't want to diminish it. A foundry needs customers willing to say so publicly, and now Intel has one. But the deal contributes a signal -- Intel didn't disclose what it contributes in dollars. At this valuation, Intel needs to deliver both. I'd want to see Thursday's numbers (external foundry revenue in particular) before paying nearly 90 times forward earnings for a turnaround still finding its footing.
Intel před výsledky za 2Q 2026 těží z rostoucí poptávky po CPU v AI datových centrech, kterou podle TSMC podporuje agentic AI. Firma navíc kvůli napjaté nabídce zvyšuje ceny CPU.
With massive gains of 357% over the past year, Intel (INTC +0.46%) has emerged as a top semiconductor play due to the company's fast-improving financial health and its growing influence in artificial intelligence (AI) chips.
However, Intel stock has slipped 25% from the 52-week high it reached on June 30. The company will release its second-quarter 2026 earnings report after the market closes on July 23, and there is a good chance the stock will regain momentum, thanks to a recent revelation from foundry giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing.
Let's take a closer look at this potential development that could spark a rally in Intel's shares.
Image source: Intel.
TSMC notes that AI is driving an improvement in CPU demand Foundry giant TSMC recently released its Q2 earnings report. Management noted on the earnings call that the "emergence of agentic AI is leading to a resurgence in the role of CPUs in AI data centers." It is worth noting that AI data centers have primarily relied on graphics processing units (GPUs) to handle AI workloads, such as training large language models (LLMs).
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However, the proliferation of agentic AI applications has brought CPUs back in focus in AI data centers. That's because CPUs are good at performing complex tasks by breaking them down into multiple steps, and they also help reduce workloads on GPUs, which can handle other compute-intensive tasks. As a result, there is a stark shift in the CPU-to-GPU ratio in data centers that handle agentic AI workloads compared with those running traditional AI models.
Market research firm TrendForce estimates a 50-50 split between CPUs and GPUs in agentic AI data centers. For comparison, LLM-centric AI data centers have a CPU-to-GPU ratio of 1:4 to 1:8. This is great news for Intel, which is the leading player in the server CPU market. The company's revenue share of server CPUs stands at an estimated 54%, according to Mercury Research.
Of course, it has been losing ground to AMD in this market, but Intel is taking concrete steps to ensure that it remains a key player in this fast-growing space. AMD estimates that the server CPU market could clock $120 billion in annual revenue in 2030, growing at a compound annual growth rate of more than 35% through the end of the decade.
Even if Intel manages to hang on to a 50% share of this space, it could generate $60 billion in annual revenue from server CPU sales in 2030. That will be a major improvement over Intel's data center and AI (DCA) revenue of $16.9 billion in 2025. However, it is worth noting that this segment also includes revenue from sales of other AI accelerators, such as custom processors.
So, Intel could report much stronger growth in its DCAI revenue when it releases its Q2 report, which could translate into a solid bottom-line beat.
Favorable server CPU pricing will be a tailwind for Intel's earnings Analysts anticipate Intel to swing to earnings per share of $0.22 in Q2 from a loss of $0.10 per share in the year-ago period. What's worth noting is that the consensus estimate sits only slightly ahead of Intel's guidance of $0.20 per share.
So, don't be surprised to see Intel's earnings easily surpass analysts' expectations, as the company recently confirmed to tech-focused online publication Tom's Hardware that it is increasing the prices of its CPUs due to tight supply. This could give this semiconductor stock a much-needed boost following its July 23 report, making it a good time for investors to consider buying before it regains its mojo.
After a sharp pullback over the last several trading sessions, semiconductor stocks are staging an impressive rebound on Tuesday as investors return to AI-related names ahead of a busy week of earnings.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) is surging nearly 5%, with broad-based gains across Intel (INTC - Free Report) ), Micron (MU - Free Report) ), Marvell (MRVL - Free Report) ), AMD (AMD - Free Report) ), Nvidia (NVDA - Free Report) ), and other chipmakers helping to lift the broader Nasdaq.
The rally appears to reflect renewed optimism following last week's sector-wide correction, improving sentiment surrounding AI infrastructure spending, and investors positioning ahead of several closely watched technology earnings reports.
For Intel, the improving backdrop comes at an important time. To that point, the chipmaker has enjoyed a remarkable turnaround this year but has also experienced heightened volatility as investors evaluate whether its foundry ambitions, AI initiatives, and manufacturing roadmap can support a sustained recovery.
With Intel set to report Q2 earnings after market hours on Thursday, July 23, investors may be wondering if now is an opportune time to buy INTC, which has soared more than 350% over the last year to outperform all of its aforementioned chip peers outside of Micron.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Intel’s Optimistic Q2 ExpectationsWall Street is expecting another meaningful step forward in Intel’s turnaround.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate calls for Q2 revenue of approximately $14.4 billion, representing 12% year-over-year growth.
On the bottom line, Intel's Q2 adjusted earnings are projected to come in at $0.21 per share, a dramatic improvement from a loss of -$0.10 a share in the year-ago period.
Investors will likely focus on several key themes during the earnings call:
Progress of Intel's 18A manufacturing processGrowth within the Data Center & AI businessUpdates on Intel Foundry customer winsOutlook for the second half of 2026Management's commentary regarding enterprise AI demand and capital spendingPerhaps most importantly, investors will want reassurance that Intel's turnaround remains on schedule and that its manufacturing investments are beginning to translate into sustainable financial improvements.
The Zacks ESPOptimistically, the Zacks ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) indicates Intel could once again surpass earnings expectations, with the Most Accurate and recent estimate among Wall Street analysts having Q2 EPS slated at $0.22 and slightly above the underlying Zacks Consensus of $0.21 (Current Qtr below).
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
This comes as Intel has impressively exceeded earnings expectations in three of its last four quarterly reports with an average EPS surprise of 996.88%. Intel most recently reported Q1 adjusted net income of $1.5 billion or $0.29 per share, which crushed EPS expectations of $0.01.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
AI and Foundry Progress Remain the Biggest CatalystsWhile Intel continues to face intense competition from AMD and Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM - Free Report) ), the company's long-term investment thesis has become increasingly centered around two opportunities: expanding its AI portfolio and rebuilding its semiconductor manufacturing leadership.
Recent announcements surrounding Intel's expanding AI ecosystem and growing enterprise partnerships, including with Nvidia, have reinforced confidence that management is making tangible progress.
Meanwhile, continued improvements in manufacturing yields and increased production on Intel's next-generation process technologies could eventually position the company as a more competitive foundry alternative for third-party chip designers.
If management delivers encouraging commentary regarding foundry customer demand and AI-related revenue opportunities, earnings estimate revisions could continue trending higher following the report.
Summary & Conclusion Although Intel still has work to do before fully re-establishing itself as a semiconductor leader, the company's turnaround appears to be gaining momentum.
Improving profitability, rising earnings estimates, AI-related growth opportunities, and continued progress within its foundry business all suggest Intel is moving in the right direction and starting to grow back into its valuation after a sharp rebound.
Naturally, Thursday's earnings report could introduce additional volatility, especially with options markets pricing in a sizable post-earnings move. However, if management delivers another solid quarter and reinforces confidence in its long-term roadmap, INTC could have further room to run.
For now, Intel stock currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), indicating favorable earnings estimate revisions and suggesting INTC may warrant consideration ahead of Q2 results.
Intel plánuje propouštění v divizi datových center v rámci snahy být „více soustředěnou a efektivní“ firmou. Počet dotčených zaměstnanců zatím není znám.
Lip-Bu Tan serves as the CEO of Intel. CHENG Yu-chen / AFP via Getty Images US chipmaker Intel is planning layoffs within its data center group amid a larger effort to become a "more focused and efficient" company.
"As part of our broader strategy to become a more focused and efficient company, Intel's data center group (DCG) is aligning its organization to ensure it has the right roles and skills in place to position the business for long-term success," an Intel spokesperson told Business Insider on Tuesday.
The spokesperson added that Intel is committed to supporting affected employees through the transition. It was not immediately clear how many company employees would be impacted by the layoffs.
A person familiar with the matter told Business Insider that the changes would not affect the data center group's product commitments and roadmaps and should help to better streamline the business.
News of the planned layoffs was first reported by The Oregonian.
The new round of job cuts comes as Intel has steadily reduced its workforce over recent years. Last year, Intel laid off at least 15% of its factory workers, or more than 5,000 employees, across four US states.
In August 2024, the chip manufacturer announced more than 15,000 job cuts as part of a plan to deliver $10 billion in cost savings for 2025.
Intel's turnaround effort gains momentumThe latest planned layoffs come at a pivotal period for Intel, which has shown signs of renewed momentum under CEO Lip-Bu Tan.
Tan was appointed CEO in March 2025 and is attempting a turnaround. The chipmaker's market share decreased in the last decade amid competition with foreign suppliers like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.
The US chipmaker is in the midst of developing its foundry business, an effort to develop chips for other companies.
On Tuesday, Intel announced its first named customer for its foundry business during Tan's tenure, a partnership with California-based cybersecurity company Fortinet to develop its next-generation security chip. Intel shares were up more than 6% following the news.
Last year, the US government took a nearly 10% stake in Intel, making it the company's largest shareholder. Intel's stock soared after President Donald Trump discussed the agreement at the White House and have climbed roughly 179% since the start of the year.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has also said that the EV maker plans to use Intel's more advanced 14A chip process, which would mark a major win for the chipmaker.
Back in May, Intel's stock rose to an all-time high following reports that the company was in talks with Apple to make chips for its devices.
Do you work at Intel? Contact the reporter from a non-work email and device at [email protected] or on Signal at 718-288-1655.
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Natalie is a senior reporter on Business Insider's Business News team.She was previously on BI's Legal Affairs team where she covered major cases out of state and federal court, as well as bankruptcy. Her coverage often focused on stories at the intersection of law, business, politics and technology. Natalie has covered Donald Trump’s criminal and civil cases, the wave of lawsuits against the second Trump administration, the indictment and criminal trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs, the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, and the legal battles facing Elon Musk and his companies. Natalie came to Business Insider in June 2021 as a breaking news reporter, focusing on the most interesting angles around the trending news of the day. Natalie largely drove BI’s coverage around the fatal “Rust” shooting involving Alec Baldwin and the disappearance and murder of Gabby Petito.Prior to joining BI, Natalie worked for the New York Post, the New York Daily News, and The Brooklyn Paper. She has an extensive background covering crime and courts. During her more than 12-year journalism career, she did a stint covering the police beat out of the headquarters for the New York Police Department. Natalie, a Brooklyn native, graduated from Brooklyn College in 2012 with a journalism degree. Popular articles
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Intel oznámí hospodářské výsledky po zavření trhu ve čtvrtek; obchodníci čekají, že akcie do konce týdne zamíří až o 12 % oběma směry. Analytici zároveň čekají tržby 14,44 miliardy USD a upravený zisk 22 centů na akcii.
Key Takeaways Intel’s latest quarterly results are set to be released Thursday afternoon, with options traders anticipating its stock could swing up to 12% in either direction by the end of the week.Analysts expect Intel to report growing revenue and profits, as the chipmaker’s sales have been boosted by AI demand in recent quarters. Get personalized, AI-powered answers built on 27+ years of trusted expertise.
Intel is slated to report earnings after the closing bell Thursday, with traders anticipating a sizable move from the chipmaker’s stock following the results.1
Based on recent options pricing, traders expect Intel (INTC) shares could swing up to 12% in either direction by the end of the week. A move of that size from Monday’s close could see the shares rebound close to $109, where they were earlier this month, or drag them below $86.
Intel shares have soared more than 160% since the start of the year amid speculation about new deals after a flurry of high-profile agreements and better-than-expected results, though they’ve slipped over 30% from last month’s highs after a broader pullback in the AI trade in recent weeks.
Why This Matters to Investors Intel stock has been volatile lately, along with other semiconductor stocks, amid some worries about the sustainability of the tech industry’s spending on AI.
UBS analysts recently lifted their price target for Intel to $121 from $83, telling clients they see strong demand for Intel’s data center hardware potentially supporting higher prices. The analysts said they expect investors to be watching for updates from Intel on its manufacturing capabilities, as well as potential new customers for Intel’s foundry business.2
Intel is projected to report second-quarter revenue of $14.44 billion, up about 12% year-over-year, according to estimates compiled by Visible Alpha. Adjusted earnings per share are seen coming in at 22 cents, up from an adjusted loss of 10 cents per share a year ago, when newly appointed CEO Lip Bu-Tan was in the midst of launching a turnaround plan for the chipmaker.
Amid lingering uncertainty around Intel’s turnaround, a number of Wall Street analysts have hesitated to recommend buying the stock. Of the eight analysts tracked by Visible Alpha, four have called it a “buy,” while four have maintained neutral ratings. Their mean price target of $128 would suggest upside of more than 30% from Monday’s close, bringing the stock back near last month’s record.
Wedbush čeká, že Intel ve čtvrtek výrazně překoná odhady za 2. čtvrtletí, hlavně díky poptávce po serverech a cenám. Přesto drží neutrální postoj a varuje, že cílová cena 60 USD při aktuální ceně 95 USD zvyšuje citlivost akcie na změnu sentimentu.
Wedbush expects Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC, XETRA:INL) to comfortably beat second-quarter expectations when it reports on Thursday, but has kept a 'neutral' rating and $60 price target, warning that the shares are more vulnerable to a shift in market sentiment than to the numbers themselves.
The target sits 37% below the current $95 share price, and is based on around 40 times the broker's 2027 earnings estimate of $1.53, a multiple Wedbush acknowledges is well above Intel's historic norm and its peers.
The broker believes revenues and margins are set to handily beat consensus, driven by server demand and pricing.
Wedbush expects data centre sales to rise around 10% quarter on quarter and 40% year on year, with double-digit increases in average selling prices during the quarter, following first-quarter rises and with a further round reportedly being implemented in the current period.
Personal computer chip pricing appears to be seeing roughly parallel increases, supporting a modest revenue uptick despite a backdrop of slowing PC builds and cost-related demand destruction.
On margins, Intel had guided for a decline in the second quarter due to a one-off benefit from selling salvaged chips and the ramp of its 18A process, but Wedbush expects margins well ahead of guidance as pricing lifts and yields improve faster than expected.
The broker cautioned, however, that strong numbers may not be enough.
It pointed to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, where even a significant beat and a reacceleration in sales failed to prevent a semiconductor sell-off, driven by concerns over Chinese gains in artificial intelligence, US-Iran tensions, inflation's impact on rates, and hyperscaler returns on data centre spending.
Wedbush argued Intel may be better placed to weather some of these worries, since China still needs compute for inference.
But with Intel's valuation well above historical norms and industry peers, the broker believes it is arguably more susceptible to broader market swings than the likes of Taiwan Semiconductor or Nvidia.
Wedbush expects numbers to move meaningfully higher, helped by potential operating cost reductions following another round of job cuts.
Intel, one of the best-performing stocks in the S&P 500 Index this year, has lost momentum in recent weeks.
The stock has fallen 32% from its year-to-date high and is hovering near its lowest level since May.
That weakness will face a crucial test later this week when the chipmaker reports its quarterly financial results.
INTC stock has enjoyed a remarkable rally this year. Despite its recent pullback, the shares remain up 138% year to date, making Intel one of the best-performing companies in the S&P 500 Index.
The surge has lifted its market capitalization to more than $477 billion, marking a dramatic turnaround for a company that was struggling with declining market share and weak financial performance just a few years ago.
Intel’s surge has been driven by several factors, including its balance sheet improvements.
The Trump administration and Nvidia took a stake in the company, helping it to shore up its finances.
Intel has also benefited from the ongoing demand for CPUs as AI agents become more popular.
It also boosted investor confidence by reaching a deal with Apollo Global to repurchase the 49% equity interest in its Irish fab joint venture. The deal is valued at $14.2 billion and is funded by cash on hand and new debt.
Most recently, Intel has inked major deals, including with SpaceX and Tesla. It has become a partner of Elon Musk’s Terafab project.
In it, the company will provide its 14A manufacturing technology to design, fabricate, and package chips.
Intel is proud to join the Terafab project with @SpaceX, @xAI, and @Tesla to help refactor silicon fab technology.
Our ability to design, fabricate, and package ultra-high-performance chips at scale will help accelerate Terafab’s aim to produce 1 TW/year of compute to power… pic.twitter.com/2vUmXn0YhH
— Intel (@intel) April 7, 2026 Intel will also manufacture some of Apple’s chips in its Texas plant. While the real production is years away, the deal is a validation for Intel’s turnaround.
In another important development, Google said that it would use Intel’s Xeon processors to power its cloud infrastructure.
While the size of the deal was not revealed, chances are that it will be worth billions of dollars.
Therefore, the upcoming earnings report will provide more information about its turnaround.
Analysts expect these results to show that Intel’s revenue jumped by 12% to $14.42 billion, helped by CPU demand.
In his statement after the last earnings report, Lip-Bu Tan, the CEO, said:
“The next wave of AI will bring intelligence closer to the end user, moving from foundational models to inference to agentic. This shift is significantly increasing the need for Intel’s CPUs and wafer and advanced packaging offerings.”
Analysts are largely bullish on Intel despite its hefty valuation. Yahoo Finance data shows that the average target among analysts is $106.70, up modestly from the current $95.
INTC stock chart | Source: TradingView
The daily chart shows that INTC stock has slumped from the year-to-date high of $142.6 to the current $95.
It has formed a double-top pattern at $132.47. This pattern had a false breakout that pushed it to the highest point this year.
It has now moved below the Major S/R pivot point of the Murrey Math Lines tool. Also, it has slipped below $98.93, its lowest level on June 5.
Therefore, the price will likely drop further in the near term, potentially to the strong pivot, reverse level of $75.
Intel v první polovině roku 2026 vzrostl o 278 %, ale v červenci 2026 se trend obrátil a akcie během jednoho dne klesly až o 10 %. Důvodem je podle textu napětí mezi silným růstem a vysokým oceněním.
After years of decline, Intel (INTC 2.00%) has seemingly revived its fortunes under the leadership of CEO Lip-Bu Tan. The successful adoption of the 18A process, rising demand for CPUs, and increased customer commitments in its foundry business helped the stock rise by 278% in the first half of 2026.
Unfortunately, the stock's fortunes began to reverse course in July, leading to daily drops of as much as 10%. Amid that downtrend, one might wonder whether to buy the dip or run for the hills. Interestingly, the answer may be simply to hold off on any decisions on the chip stock, and here's why.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Without a doubt, Tan has transformed Intel from a former industry leader in decline to a vibrant competitor.
Its success with the 18A process node means that it could potentially challenge Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) in the production of the world's most advanced chips. Also, as CPUs become more critical to data centers, Intel has an incentive to try to take its technical lead back from AMD, whose CPUs surpassed Intel's in terms of performance.
Reports surfaced that Intel's foundry business has begun to win business. Tesla and Apple have signed production agreements with Intel, and other industry giants considered shifting production to Intel as well. This is a massive win for the U.S. as Intel works to shift more production away from the geopolitically contentious Taiwan region.
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Nonetheless, Intel's financial metrics indicate that investors got ahead of themselves in bidding up the stock price. In the first quarter of 2026, Intel's revenue of $13.6 billion rose by 7% compared to year-ago levels. Although that improved over the flat revenue performance during 2025, it is far below other tech giants, which reported revenue growth in the double-digit percentage range.
Additionally, it was a $4.1 billion restructuring charge in Q1 that contributed heavily to its $3.7 billion net loss. Still, when considering the $26 million in net income for 2025 and the $1.5 billion in non-GAAP net income for Q1, investors can at least know that Intel has become profitable again from an operational standpoint.
Furthermore, the aforementioned $26 million profit is too small to offer a meaningful P/E ratio. When looking at the forward P/E ratio, it comes in at 127, and the forward one-year earnings multiple is at 89. Thus, even with Intel on a likely recovery path, the stock price is likely years ahead of the company's anticipated growth.
Intel stock is a likely hold Intel's stock probably fell in recent days due to the stock price moving ahead of fundamentals. Hence, when also considering its forecasted growth, the stock is likely a hold.
Thanks to Intel's technical breakthroughs and recent contract wins, the company again emerged as a competitor in the chip industry. Assuming it stays on that path, it may eventually justify the stock's massive AI rally.
Unfortunately, the high forward multiples imply that the selling trend could continue over the near term. Until that decline stops (or the valuation becomes more reasonable), investors should probably refrain from buying more Intel shares.
Will Healy has positions in Advanced Micro Devices. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Apple, Intel, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, and Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Intel rozšiřuje partnerství s Google Cloud o Gemini Enterprise a nové instance C4 a N4, aby automatizovalo práci a zrychlilo vývoj čipů. Firma chce rychleji simulovat návrhy křemíku a zlepšit inženýrské procesy.
Key Takeaways INTC is expanding its Google Cloud partnership to deploy generative AI and accelerate chip development.Intel will deploy Gemini Enterprise to automate tasks and enhance workflows across engineering and operations.INTC is adding Google Cloud C4 and N4 instances to speed silicon design simulations and improve engineering. Intel Corporation (INTC - Free Report) is advancing its enterprise-wide artificial intelligence (AI) transformation through an expanded multi-year collaboration with Alphabet Inc.'s (GOOGL - Free Report) Google Cloud. The partnership will help Intel integrate generative AI and cloud technologies across its global operations to support innovation and business growth.
Under the agreement, Intel will deploy Gemini Enterprise across its workforce, enabling employees to automate tasks and enhance workflows across engineering, supply chain and corporate operations. The platform’s advanced reasoning capabilities will support software development by streamlining coding tasks and automating complex, multi-step workflows.
The company will also utilize the Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform to create custom AI tools for different business functions. In addition, Intel is exploring AI solutions to improve marketing and communications by generating targeted content, identifying relevant subject-matter experts and preparing executive materials more efficiently.
Intel is expanding its use of Google Cloud's high-performance computing infrastructure to speed up chip development. By adding Google Cloud's C4 and N4 instances to its existing computing resources, the company can run more silicon design simulations simultaneously, reducing development time and improving engineering performance. Through this collaboration, Intel aims to strengthen its position in AI-driven enterprise and semiconductor innovation.
How Are Competitors Performing in the AI Space?Intel faces competition from Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM - Free Report) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD - Free Report) . Qualcomm is expanding its presence in the AI market by broadening its focus into data center, enterprise and edge. The company has acquired AI software startup Modular to strengthen its AI capabilities and make it easier to develop and deploy AI applications across different hardware platforms. Qualcomm is improving AI features in its Snapdragon chips and working with partners to bring more AI-powered solutions to vehicles, smartphones, PCs and connected devices.
AMD is strengthening its AI business by growing its data center and enterprise AI offerings with its Instinct GPUs, EPYC processors and ROCm software. The company has partnered with Nutanix and Meta to develop AI infrastructure and support large-scale AI deployments. AMD is investing in AI research, infrastructure and innovation to support the growing demand for advanced technologies.
INTC’s Price Performance, Valuation & EstimatesShares of Intel have skyrocketed 319.8% over the past year compared with the industry’s growth of 26.7%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Going by the price/book ratio, the company's shares currently trade at 3.9 book value, lower than the industry average of 25.74.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
INTC’s earnings estimates for 2026 have increased 1.9% to $1.07 per share, while those for 2027 have increased 2.1% to $1.47 over the past 60 days.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Intel stock currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Intel a AMD ve čtvrtek prudce oslabují kvůli obavám z přebytečné kapacity v čipech a zpomalení růstu cen pamětí HBM. Intel navíc tlačí zprávy o zpoždění výnosných výtěžností procesu 18A až na konec roku 2026 nebo 2027.
Intel (INTC) and Advanced Micro Devices AMD shares are under immense pressure on Thursday morning, amidst what can be described as a “perfect storm”.
A mix of global semiconductor panic, a significant shift in how Wall Street is viewing the AI boom, and painful company-specific realities (for INTC in particular) is hurting the chip names today.
Despite the sell-off, however, both AMD and Intel stocks remain blockbuster investments for 2026 – currently trading at well over 2x their prices at the start of this year.
Intel, AMD, and the broader semiconductor sector are bleeding on July 16 due to two major global catalysts.
South Korean memory giant SK Hynix suffered a “historic” single-session collapse (its worst ever) after reports surfaced that its high-bandwidth memory (HBM) average selling prices are growing slower-than-expected.
This sent shockwaves through the global supply chain. Moreover, while equipment giant ASML recently reported a massive backlog, the market has suddenly inverted its thinking.
Instead of viewing this as a sign of booming demand, investors are worried that chip manufacturing capacity is being built out too fast.
The core anxiety has shifted from “Can they build enough chips?” to “Is the massive capex on AI hardware actually sustainable?”
For Intel and AMD stock, this overcapacity threat points to a steep collapse in pricing power and a severe margin squeeze just as their expensive, next-gen hardware architectures are launching.
INTC shares are taking a harder hit than most chip stocks at writing because the firm’s ambitious turnaround story is hitting major speed bumps.
The bull case for Intel in 2026 relies primarily on its cutting-edge 18A manufacturing process.
But recent reports indicating that profitable yields for 18A are being pushed back to late 2026 or even 2027 are severely deflating investor optimism.
Adding fuel to the fire today, JPMorgan named Intel a top short idea.
The bank said that Intel’s massive year-to-date rally priced in a foundry and artificial intelligence recovery that simply isn’t showing up in concrete financial results yet.
To make matters worse, AMD recently surpassed INTC in quarterly data-center revenue for the first time ($5.8 billion vs. $5.1 billion), showing that Intel is actively losing ground in its most profitable business segment.
After massive gains in the first half of 2026, institutional investors are aggressively taking profits.
There is a visible market rotation underway: funds are pulling capital out of high-beta chip names (like Marvell, Intel, and AMD) and parking it in mega-cap tech giants (like Apple and Google) and Chinese tech names (like Alibaba) that actually spend the AI cash rather than build the hardware.
This isn’t a sign that AI demand is dead.
It’s a valuation and positioning correction. Because both INTC and AMD shares were “priced for perfection”, any sign of friction – whether delayed node or a macro capacity concerns – was bound to trigger a sharp exit.
Intel už používá High-NA stroj ASML v části dnešní produkce čipů, uvedl CEO ASML. Jde o důležitý milník pro přechod této technologie z laboratoře do výroby.
The comment marks a turning point for a technology that, until recently, was viewed as the future of semiconductor manufacturing rather than its present.
From Prototype To Production“Some of the product you buy today from Intel have been created with a High-NA machine,” Fouquet told investors during ASML’s earnings call.
That distinction matters.
For years, ASML’s next-generation High-NA EUV systems — estimated to cost roughly $400 million each — have symbolized the next era of chipmaking. Investors have watched customers line up to buy them, but commercial production has remained the bigger question.
ASML’s latest update suggests Intel has already answered it.
Why Investors Should CareIntel has spent much of the past decade trying to reclaim its manufacturing edge after losing process leadership to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. (NYSE:TSM).
Its turnaround strategy has relied as much on factories as products, with billions of dollars flowing into advanced manufacturing technology. If Intel can successfully integrate ASML’s newest machines into high-volume production, it could strengthen one of the company’s biggest competitive advantages: its ability to design and manufacture leading-edge chips under one roof.
The announcement also reinforces ASML’s broader message that AI-driven chip demand continues to justify heavy investment in next-generation manufacturing equipment.
The Next Milestone To WatchOne production milestone won’t decide the semiconductor race.
Still, ASML’s comments suggest one thing is no longer theoretical. Its most advanced chipmaking technology has moved beyond the lab — and chips built with it are already reaching customers. For investors watching Intel’s turnaround, that’s a milestone worth paying attention to.
Image: Shutterstock
Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Intel Foundry začala vyrábět část procesorů Intel Core Ultra Series 3 s technologií ASML High NA EUV na uzlu Intel 18A. Jde o první masově vyráběný logic produkt v oboru s High NA EUV.
High NA EUV reaches new readiness milestone with first high-volume Logic product
Intel Foundry has entered high-volume manufacturing for a subset of Intel® Core™ Ultra Series 3 processors, code-named Panther Lake, using ASML’s EXE High NA EUV technology Specific Intel 18A layers are now dual-qualified on High NA EUV in Oregon, with product shipping to customers at yields matched to the NXE platformIntel and ASML continue to closely collaborate on High NA EUV readiness with flexibility to incorporate into future nodes based on customer needs VELDHOVEN, the Netherlands, July 15, 2026 – ASML Holding N.V. (ASML) today reported that Intel Foundry is using ASML’s High NA EUV technology on the Intel 18A process node to produce a subset of its Intel® Core™ Ultra Series 3 processors. This milestone marks an important step in demonstrating High NA EUV readiness in a production environment.
ASML and Intel have worked closely for decades to advance lithography technology and support the continued scaling of semiconductors. The high numerical aperture extreme ultraviolet (High NA EUV) lithography process is an important next step in EUV lithography, developed by ASML to enable more precise patterning for advanced chip manufacturing.
The Intel® Core™ Ultra Series 3 processors, code-named Panther Lake, are built on Intel 18A. The use of High NA EUV to pattern specific layers of these products provides ASML and Intel Foundry with helpful data to further refine system setup, up time and manufacturing implementation. This paves the way towards broader adoption, utilizing the full capabilities of the technology.
“With increased resolution and better process control, the introduction of High NA EUV marks a substantial development in semiconductor lithography,” said Christophe Fouquet, ASML President and CEO. “We are proud to play a role in enabling the smaller, denser patterning that will accelerate advancements in AI and other emerging technologies.”
“This milestone reflects the close technical collaboration between Intel and ASML and shows how High NA EUV can be integrated into advanced semiconductor manufacturing at scale,” said Naga Chandrasekaran, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Intel Foundry. “By qualifying the High NA EUV process option on select Intel 18A product layers, our existing fleet of tools are providing customers with increased output, while we develop future options to achieve leading-edge performance, density and manufacturing flexibility on upcoming nodes.”
In 2024, Intel and ASML completed integration of the industry’s first commercial High NA EUV lithography system at the company’s Hillsboro, Oregon, R&D site. Intel Foundry was also the first company to install and pass acceptance testing of the second generation, TWINSCAN EXE:5200B, which builds on the TWINSCAN EXE:5000 and increases output and overlay accuracy, along with an improved light source. With this announcement, Intel Foundry is first in the industry to ship high-volume logic product using High NA EUV.
Media Relations contactsInvestor Relations contactsMonique Mols +31 6 5284 4418Jim Kavanagh +31 40 268 3938 Sarah de Crescenzo +1 925 899 8985Pete Convertito +1 203 919 1714 Karen Lo +886 9 397 88635Peter Cheang +886 3 659 6771 About ASML
ASML is a leading supplier to the semiconductor industry. The company provides chipmakers with hardware, software and services to mass produce the patterns of integrated circuits (microchips). Together with its partners, ASML drives the advancement of more affordable, more powerful, more energy-efficient microchips. ASML enables groundbreaking technology to solve some of humanity's toughest challenges, such as in healthcare, energy use and conservation, mobility and agriculture. ASML is a multinational company headquartered in Veldhoven, the Netherlands, with offices across EMEA, the US and Asia. Every day, ASML’s more than 44,500 employees (FTE) challenge the status quo and push technology to new limits. ASML is traded on Euronext Amsterdam and NASDAQ under the symbol ASML. Discover ASML – our products, technology and career opportunities – at www.asml.com.
Intel začal při výrobě části čipů Panther Lake pro notebooky používat špičkový stroj High-NA EUV od ASML. Cílem je lépe zvládnout tuto technologii a optimalizovat výrobu.
Computer motherboard and Intel chip appear in this illustration taken August 25, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
SAN FRANCISCO, July 14 (Reuters) - Intel (INTC.O), opens new tab has decided to use a high-end machine from ASML to manufacture some of its flagship Panther Lake laptop chips, ASML said on Tuesday, a move that will help the chipmaker learn to use the tool more effectively.
Following experiments that began in 2024, Intel has begun to use ASML's next-generation high numerical aperture (High NA) extreme ultraviolet (EUV) machines, which print circuit patterns on to microchips, to help produce a portion of its Panther Lake processors, ASML said.
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The industry has debated at what point it makes economic sense to begin deploying the High NA tools, which likely will be needed by chipmakers in the future as they continue to shrink the atomic-sized features that make up chips.
The High NA equipment costs around $400 million, or twice as much as the standard EUV machine. The tool is also technically challenging to introduce into production processes.
Intel is using the High NA tool for specific layers of the chip, which will help Intel and ASML collect data and optimize the equipment.
Intel declined to comment on the announcement.
The company uses its 18A manufacturing process to fabricate the Panther Lake chips and already uses ASML's standard EUV lithography machines to do so. Lithography is the process of using light to draw the complex patterns that make up the circuits on a chip.
Intel received the first High NA tool in 2024 at its Hillsboro, Oregon research and development site where the company develops its new manufacturing techniques and technologies.
Reporting by Max A. Cherney in San Francisco; Editing by Sonali Paul
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab
Max A. Cherney is a correspondent for Reuters based in San Francisco, where he reports on the semiconductor industry and artificial intelligence. He joined Reuters in 2023 and has previously worked for Barron’s magazine and its sister publication, MarketWatch. Cherney graduated from Trent University with a degree in history.
BofA čeká, že AMD překoná odhady a zvýší výhled díky ziskům podílu na trhu, silné poptávce v cloudu a serverovému boomu. Intel a ARM dál brzdí slabé PC a smartphony.
CPU makers Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD, XETRA:AMD), Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC, XETRA:INL), Arm Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:ARM) and Qualcomm Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM, XETRA:QCI) are all reporting earnings in the coming weeks, and Bank of America says the results will tell very different stories depending on the business.
PC and smartphone sales are still struggling, both down more than 10-15% year-over-year in 2026 estimates. But AI server chips are a different picture entirely. Demand keeps climbing as more companies adopt agentic AI and keep spending on data center buildout.
BofA flagged a few big questions investors should watch this earnings season: how big the server CPU market really is (estimates range from $120 billion to $200 billion or more), whether recent price increases will stick, how much CPU power each new AI system actually needs, whether supply can keep up with demand, and how market share will shake out as more chip options hit the market.
Speed or scale? There's also a real debate brewing over what makes a CPU good at AI. Some, including Nvidia, argue that faster individual cores matter most since they cut down latency on tool calls. AMD sees it differently, arguing that handling many tasks at once and overall rack performance matter more. BofA thinks both sides have a point, and either way, it points to stronger CPU demand ahead.
AMD: expect a beat and raise BofA expects AMD to beat expectations and raise guidance, driven by continued market share gains, strong cloud demand and solid visibility into supply. The firm thinks AMD's next quarterly outlook will include news of the first shipment of its MI455X "Helios" rack, setting up a bigger ramp by Q4 that could hit $6-7 billion a quarter or more. AMD's new Venice server chip is also launching around the same time.
Management last pegged the server CPU market at $120 billion back in May, and BofA thinks that number could climb higher. The firm raised its price target on AMD to $620 from $550, pointing to the company's July 23 "Advancing AI" event as a potential catalyst.
Intel: pricing should cushion the blow PC unit sales remain a drag for Intel, likely down 10-15% or more this year. But BofA expects better pricing on both PC and server chips, plus AI demand, to make up for it. Investors will likely be watching margins in Intel's Products segment, along with updates on its foundry business and next-gen 18A server chips. BofA currently sees Intel's server market share sliding to 24% by 2030, down from 41% last year.
ARM: phones are a drag, servers are the hope ARM's royalty revenue is still tied mostly to smartphones, where volumes are expected to keep falling through 2027. Big content gains from newer chip architectures are mostly already priced in. The bigger opportunity, server wins with Google and Microsoft, likely won't show up until the back half of 2026 or later. One wildcard: ARM's AI chip business could see demand outstrip supply by 2027-28, which BofA says could become a real swing factor.
Intel uvedl, že vyšší než očekávané tržby Xeonů byly taženy poptávkou hyperscalerů po host CPU pro AI servery. To naznačuje, že AI přináší firmě růst i mimo Gaudi.
SUQIAN, CHINA - JUNE 1, 2026 - A netizen is using his mobilephone to view intel logo and using his computer to view intel webpage in Suqian, Jiangsu, China on June 1, 2026. (Photo credit should read CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images
This article was written by Doug Nathman, with research by his team at Trefis.
Underlying the semiconductor manufacturer's rising stock price was a story that went unnoticed: the subtle yet significant revival of its oldest and most powerful product.
As we approached mid-2025, it was understandable to think that Intel (INTC) might be a value trap on its path to becoming an artifact of the past. Based on its fiscal Q1 2025 outcomes, the firm's trailing twelve-month revenues declined by 4.0% compared to the previous year, and it was facing a profoundly negative net margin of -36%. The figures were dismal enough to spark entire discussions about the margin squeeze jeopardizing Intel stock. The options market was lackadaisical, with implied volatility residing in the calm 35th percentile of its annual spectrum just weeks before the surge commenced.
By all indications, this was not a stock poised for a 369% increase.
What Was Being Overlooked By The Market?A portion of the narrative was a classic diversion. All attention was directed towards Intel's initiative to develop a specialized AI accelerator chip, Gaudi, to rival industry leaders. The news, however, on that front was disappointing. In late 2024, the management acknowledged that the adoption of Gaudi was "slower than we anticipated" and that it would fall short of its revenue goals. By early 2025, the company disclosed its decision to cancel the next-generation version, an internal venture, as a marketable product. For those monitoring Intel’s direct challenge in the AI training sector, the situation appeared to be a setback.
Yet this narrative missed the company's fundamental strength.
What Was Management Indicating Regarding Its Core CPU Division?While the Gaudi narrative faltered, another, more impactful one was gaining momentum in the background, frequently during the same earnings calls. Management began to subtly yet consistently discuss the changing landscape of AI. They asserted that the dialogue was transitioning from merely training models to effectively utilizing them for inference, a workload where the traditional server CPU, the Xeon, held a pivotal role.
As early as October 2024, the CEO proclaimed that this solidified Intel's status as the 'preferred head node in AI servers,' emphasizing that as the industry progressed toward inference, it would rely on workloads that were 'far more CPU-centric.' By January 2025, his successor underscored the company’s "leading position as the host CPU for AI servers" and the "substantial opportunity for CPU-based inference." The argument was evident: the impending wave of AI would generate tremendous demand for CPUs alongside GPUs.
When Did This Narrative Begin To Appear In The Financial Outcomes?A compelling story is one aspect; actual figures are another. The final indication came in April 2025, coinciding with the company's fiscal Q1 results. The report itself was mixed, but the specifics were revealing. The CFO had achieved figures at the upper end of their guidance, explicitly stating that it was "driven by better-than-expected Xeon sales."
What fueled this strength? He indicated it was "driven by hyperscaler demand for host CPUs for AI servers." The understated narrative had finally made its way to the income statement. DCAI revenue, the segment encompassing those chips, exceeded expectations. It marked the first concrete indication that the increasing significance of the CPU in the AI epoch was a real, revenue-generating phenomenon.
The indicator was not in a flashy new offering, but in the market rediscovering how indispensable Intel’s oldest product line was to the latest technological trend.
And if it is broad exposure to semiconductors you seek, rather than pursuing the next single entity to surge, a semiconductor ETF like SOXX encompasses that entire sector.
Recognizing a setup prior to its rise is a genuine advantage, yet a stock you are enthusiastic about can easily become an oversized portion of your portfolio, and the same volatility that fuels a surge can also reverse it. Concentration can convert that downturn into significant losses, and selling to reduce it incurs a tax liability. There exists a method to secure the profits and diversify without the tax implications.
Intel investuje kapitálově 5 miliard eur (5,7 miliardy USD) do modernizace irského areálu v Leixlipu a rozšíření evropské výroby pro AI a high-performance computing. Investice má vytvořit několik stovek pracovních míst.
The Intel logo at the 10th edition of the VivaTech technology startups and innovation fair in Paris, France, June 18, 2026. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
SummaryCompaniesInvestment to add several hundred jobs at Irish operationMajority of investment to be deployed by end-2027LEIXLIP, Ireland, July 13 (Reuters) - Intel (INTC.O), opens new tab has begun a €5 billion ($5.7 billion) capital investment to upgrade its Irish campus and expand its European output to meet growing global demand for AI and high-performance computing, the U.S. chipmaker said on Monday.
Intel said the move would upgrade and maximize capacity at its facility in Leixlip outside Dublin that produces Intel 3 silicon wafers, which the company says is the most advanced semiconductor manufacturing facility of its kind in Europe.
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It will also link the facility to other factories at the campus, Intel's European manufacturing base, as well as advance research and development and retrain staff, Naga Chandrasekaran, executive vice president of Intel Foundry, said.
Intel is one of the key multinationals in Ireland's foreign investment-focused economy, having already invested €30 billion in the country since 1989, more than half of which was spent between 2019 and 2023 on the fabrication facility that doubled the available capacity in Ireland.
The leading-edge manufacturing equipment that Intel has begun to install will help deliver Intel Xeon 6 processors and next-generation Intel Xeon built on the group's Intel 3 manufacturing process, the company said.
"The demand for servers, the demand for AI is driving a significant increase in the need for Intel 3 wafers," Chandrasekaran told reporters.
Chandrasekaran said the investment would add "several hundred" more jobs to the 4,900 people Intel employs in Ireland.
The majority of the investment would be made by the end of 2027 and represents about 30% of Intel's $17 billion planned capital expenditure for 2026, he added.
Ireland is hugely reliant on the taxes and jobs of foreign multinationals such as Intel. Foreign-owned firms have almost doubled their Irish workforce in the last decade to make up 11% of the entire labour market.
Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said Intel's latest investment was a powerful vote of confidence in Ireland and its position as a location for advanced manufacturing.
($1 = 0.8750 euros)
Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Sarah Young and Tomasz Janowski
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Intel letos více než zdvojnásobil hodnotu, ale JPMorgan ho dál řadí mezi top shorty. Banka tvrdí, že trh už oceňuje úspěšný obrat, který se teprve musí prokázat.
Intel Corp’s (NASDAQ:INTC) turnaround has become one of Wall Street’s favorite semiconductor trades.
The stock has more than doubled this year as investors bet the company can reclaim its manufacturing edge and emerge as a major AI winner. JPMorgan, however, thinks the rally may have already priced in a recovery that still needs to be proven.
• Intel shares are retreating from recent levels. Why are INTC shares down?
The Turnaround Everyone Is Betting OnIntel’s resurgence has been driven less by what the company has already accomplished and more by what investors believe it can become.
The market has embraced the idea that Intel can rebuild its foundry business, attract major third-party chip customers and regain relevance in an AI-driven semiconductor industry. That optimism has helped make the stock one of this year’s strongest performers.
JPMorgan isn’t convinced those expectations match today’s fundamentals.
Why JPMorgan Thinks the Rally Has Gone Too FarThe bank’s thesis isn’t that Intel lacks a turnaround strategy.
Instead, semiconductor analyst Harlan Sur argues investors are already valuing Intel as though that turnaround has largely succeeded.
According to JPMorgan, Intel’s foundry business still generates only minimal external customer revenue, continues to post deeply negative margins and has yet to demonstrate broad third-party customer adoption. Meanwhile, the company’s traditional client and server processor businesses continue to lose market share.
In other words, JPMorgan believes the stock reflects tomorrow’s success while many of the operational milestones remain works in progress.
A Broader Theme Across JPMorgan’s Short ListIntel isn’t the only company on JPMorgan’s list where expectations appear to be running ahead of execution.
The bank warned that increasing competition from providers with larger GPU capacity could pressure pricing for AI cloud infrastructure company IREN, while it argued AI-native website builders are beginning to chip away at Wix’s competitive moat by shifting users toward lower-margin AI products.
The common thread isn’t weak businesses. It’s JPMorgan’s view that investors may have become too optimistic about how quickly these companies can deliver on their long-term narratives.
What Investors Should WatchFor Intel, the next chapter of the turnaround won’t be written by AI headlines alone.
Investors will likely be looking for evidence that the company’s foundry business can attract meaningful external customers, improve profitability and stabilize its core PC and server franchises.
Until then, JPMorgan believes the stock’s remarkable rally may have moved faster than the fundamentals.
Photo: PJ McDonnell / Shutterstock
This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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Intel ve 1. čtvrtletí 2026 zvýšil ne-GAAP provozní marži na 12,3 % z 5,4 % díky růstu tržeb a nižším nákladům. Provozní zisk vzrostl na 1,7 miliardy USD z 0,7 miliardy USD.
Key Takeaways Intel's non-GAAP operating margin rose to 12.3% from 5.4% as revenues and profitability improved.INTC benefited from AI PC demand, Xeon growth, lower operating costs and stronger execution.Intel Foundry narrowed losses sequentially, but investment in advanced manufacturing weighed on margins. Intel Corporation (INTC - Free Report) reported non-GAAP operating income of $1.7 billion in the first quarter of 2026, up from $0.7 billion in the year-ago quarter. The non-GAAP operating margin rose to 12.3% from 5.4% a year ago. Such a sharp improvement in profitability is driven by multiple factors.
The company reported strong revenue growth during the first quarter. Client Computing Group (“CCG”) revenues increased to $7.73 billion from $7.63 billion, driven by strong demand for client CPUs and growing adoption of AI PCs. Datacenter and AI Group (“DCAI”) revenues improved to $5.05 billion from $4.13 billion, driven by strong demand for Xeon server CPUs for AI workloads, higher ASIC sales and new long-term customer deals with leading firms like Google. Operating margin in DCAI substantially increased to 30.5% from 13.9% a year ago, while CCG’s operating margin increased to 32.6% from 30.9%.
Intel's margin expansion also benefited from disciplined cost management. Non-GAAP research and development costs and marketing, general and administrative expenses declined 9% year over year to $3.9 billion. Lower operating expenses, combined with stronger revenue growth, supported a strong improvement in profitability.
Operational execution played a crucial role in margin expansion. Disciplined execution, improving factory output and expanding available supply allowed Intel to match rising customer demand despite supply constraints.
Although Intel Foundry's operating loss narrowed sequentially, the segment remained a drag on the company's overall profitability. Higher investments in Intel 14A and the ramp-up of advanced manufacturing technologies continued to pressure the segment's margins despite improving manufacturing yield and execution.
How Are Competitors Faring?Intel faces competition from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD - Free Report) and Broadcom, Inc. (AVGO - Free Report) in the semiconductor space. AMD's non-GAAP operating income climbed to $2.54 billion, up 43% year over year, as AMD’s top-line growth translated into operating leverage. Data Center operating income increased to $1.60 billion (up 71.6% year over year), translating to a 27.7% operating margin compared with 25.4%. A richer mix of high-margin Data Center products, particularly EPYC server CPUs and Instinct AI GPUs, is driving AMD’s margin.
Broadcom’s operating margin rose 52.4% year over year to a record $14.9 billion, reflecting strong operating leverage as non-GAAP operating margin expanded 200 bps year over year to 67.3%. Disciplined cost management combined with strong revenue growth is driving Broadcom’s operating margin. Revenues are propelled by strong demand for networking products and custom AI accelerators.
INTC’s Price Performance, Valuation & EstimatesShares of Intel have skyrocketed 372.5% over the past year compared with the industry’s growth of 32.5%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Going by the price/book ratio, the company's shares currently trade at 4.53 book value, lower than 25.74 of the industry average.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Earnings estimates for INTC for 2026 and 2027 have increased over the past 60 days.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Intel stock currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Intel uvedl, že jeho plán obratu se blíží k 200 miliardám USD, přičemž za poslední čtvrtletí vykázal šesté po sobě jdoucí překonání odhadů tržeb. Tržby dosáhly 13,577 miliardy USD a non-GAAP EPS činil 0,29 USD.
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Intel (NASDAQ:INTC | INTC Price Prediction) has anchored its comeback story on a capital program that keeps getting bigger. Management disclosed in its Q3 2025 report that the effort is part of more than $100 billion Intel is investing to expand domestic operations.
Layered on top of this $100 billion figure is a $5.0 billion NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) equity investment, a $2.0 billion SoftBank investment, $8.9 billion in CHIPS Act funding, the Fab 34 Ireland buyback funded with roughly $7.7 billion cash and $6.5 billion in new debt. That’s on top of the highly-anticipated TeraFab partnership with SpaceX, xAI, and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA).
Add it all up, and the turnaround plan pushes toward the $200 billion mark. That is the lens through which the latest quarter has to be judged.
What It Means This number is massive, but it represents a capital program that large is only credible if the operating business is bending in the right direction. I think it is.
The company’s Q1 FY26 revenue came in at $13.577 billion versus a $12.431 billion estimate, good for a 9.22% beat. Importantly, Intel’s management team flagged this past quarter as the sixth consecutive session of revenue above expectations. Non-GAAP EPS was $0.29 against a $0.0127 consensus, while non-GAAP gross margin expanded to 41.0%, up from 39.2% a year earlier.
The segment mix is where the $200 billion bet earns its keep. Data Center and AI revenue reached $5.052 billion (up 22% year over year), Intel Foundry revenue hit $5.421 billion (up 16%), and Client Computing came in at $7.727 billion, up 1%.
With a strong balance sheet supported by cash and equivalents climbed to $17.247 billion, up 92.77% year over year, and shareholders’ equity rising 25.29% to $124.989 billion, I think Intel’s CFO David Zinsner is on to something big when he told analysts the company’s “collective AI-driven businesses now represent 60% of revenue and grew 40% year-over-year.”
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Bull Case The bull argument around Intel rests on a simple observation. That is, the company’s capital plan is scaling right as the product portfolio is inflecting.
Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan told analysts, “A year ago, the conversation about Intel Corporation was about whether we could survive.” Today, it is about how quickly we can add manufacturing capacity and scale our supply to meet enormous demand for our products.” He added that 18A wafers are now running ahead of internal projections, and Intel 14A maturity, yield, and performance are outpacing Intel 18A at a similar point in time.
The commercial validation is stacking up in parallel. Intel signed a multiyear partnership with Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) covering custom ASIC IPU co-development, and Intel Xeon 6 was selected as the host CPU for NVIDIA’s DGX Rubin NVL8 systems. The company’s ASIC franchise is already running at north of a billion dollars, and on unmet demand, Zinsner said only that the number “starts with a ‘b.'” Tan framed the structural setup as “This shift is significantly increasing the need for Intel’s CPUs and wafer and advanced packaging offerings.”
Q2 FY26 guidance points to sequential progress: revenue of $13.80 billion to $14.80 billion, non-GAAP EPS of $0.20, and non-GAAP gross margin of about 39.0%. Rather than open-market buying, insider activity shows up in large equity grants to key operational executives in late May, suggesting management is being compensated for turnaround execution.
Bottom Line Long-term holders are being asked to underwrite one of the largest capital programs in U.S. semiconductor history, and the operating numbers so far are cooperating. Six straight revenue beats, DCAI up 22%, Foundry up 16%, margins expanding, and a partner list that now includes Google, NVIDIA, SoftBank, SpaceX, xAI, and Tesla is the kind of scaffolding a $200 billion story needs.
The next test is dated. That is, the company’s upcoming Q2 2026 earnings report on July 23, 2026, after market close. This report will tell investors whether the turnaround is compounding, or whether the $200 billion price tag is running ahead of the payoff.
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AMD v 1. čtvrtletí dosáhla v datových centrech tržeb 5,8 miliardy USD, což je více než Intel ve stejném byznysu. Segment vzrostl meziročně o 57 % a stal se největší a nejrychleji rostoucí částí firmy.
For decades, the data center was Intel's kingdom. It designed the processors that ran the world's servers, and AMD (AMD +5.71%) was an afterthought. That era is over.
In its first quarter of 2026, AMD's data-center segment generated $5.8 billion in revenue -- more than Intel (INTC +1.97%) pulled in from the same business over the same stretch. It was another quarter in which AMD out-earned its old rival in the data center, and it reframes the investment case for both stocks.
So, which one does the shift favor from here?
Image source: The Motley Fool.
AMD: the data-center engine takes over AMD's first-quarter data-center revenue rose 57% year over year to $5.8 billion. That was the standout line in a strong quarter. Total revenue climbed 38% to $10.3 billion, and data center is now the company's largest and fastest-growing business.
Profitability moved with it. AMD's non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings per share came in at $1.37, and even on a GAAP basis the company earned $0.84 per share and $1.4 billion in net income, at a gross margin above 50%. This is a business growing quickly and making money as it does.
One caveat is worth noting. AMD's data-center segment includes its Instinct artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators, not just server processors, so part of the crossover is a graphics-chip story rather than a pure server-CPU win. In server processors alone, AMD still ships fewer units than Intel.
But even there, the trend runs AMD's way. It now captures close to half of all server-CPU revenue while shipping only about a third of the units -- a sign customers are paying up for its higher-end parts.
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The stock reflects all of it. AMD shares are up more than 250% over the past year, and the momentum shows little sign of fading.
Both halves of the data-center business are pulling their weight: EPYC server processors for cloud providers, and Instinct accelerators for AI workloads. As long as that mix keeps growing, AMD's profit engine keeps getting stronger.
Intel: cheaper, but for a reason Intel's data center and AI group is still sizable, generating $5.1 billion in first-quarter revenue, up 22% year over year. That is healthy growth. And by total revenue, Intel remains the larger company, with more than $50 billion in sales over the past year to AMD's roughly $37 billion. Losing the data-center lead stings precisely because Intel is still the bigger business.
The trouble is everything around that growth. Intel is unprofitable on a trailing basis, dragged down by a foundry unit spending heavily to catch up in manufacturing. In the first quarter, that unit brought in less than $200 million from outside customers and lost money.
And the stock has fallen about 21% in just the past week, on reports that its critical 18A manufacturing process may not reach profitable yields until 2027.
The bull case, of course, is that Intel is cheap and turning around. Its most advanced process could still inflect, and its data-center revenue is growing again. For patient investors, that is a genuine value setup.
But cheap can stay cheap. Intel trades at more than 100 times expected earnings precisely because those earnings are depressed today, and the turnaround keeps taking longer than management promises.
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Which stock the shift favors So which is the better buy? Line the two up, and the contrast is stark. AMD is growing faster, earning more in the data center, and turning that growth into profit. Intel is cheaper, but it is losing money, ceding server share, and waiting for manufacturing to ramp up.
The main issue, of course, is valuation. AMD is not cheap. It trades at about 59 times forward earnings, a rich multiple that already bakes in much of its momentum. If data-center growth cools, the stock arguably has room to fall.
So neither is a bargain. Intel is a deep-value bet on a turnaround with a real chance of disappointing. AMD is a premium-priced bet on continued execution.
Between the two, I'd side with AMD. Paying up for the business that is actually winning its market -- growing 38% and converting that growth into profit -- strikes me as the better risk than betting on a rival to undo years of manufacturing setbacks on a timeline it keeps missing. The data-center crown has changed hands, and I think it stays changed.
Akcie Intelu za týden spadly asi o 21 %, protože se zpožďuje nástup výrobního procesu 18A. To oddaluje ziskovost foundry, zatímco AMD v datových centrech předstihl Intel.
For most of 2026, Intel (INTC +2.68%) was the comeback story of the chip sector. The stock had more than tripled on the belief that its new 18A manufacturing process would finally put the company back on the leading edge. Then, over the past week, the rally came apart.
Intel shares have tumbled about 21% in a week, trading at about $110 as of this writing. That is a jarring reversal for one of the market's best performers this year.
So what actually broke the rally? Three separate pressures landed at nearly the same time. Here's a look at each -- and which one should matter most to investors.
Image source: Getty Images.
The 18A payoff got pushed out Intel's whole 2026 run rested on one idea: that 18A, its most advanced process, would ramp this year and pull the money-losing foundry business toward profitability.
Reports over the past week complicated that story. According to industry reports, 18A yields (the share of chips that come off the line usable) may not reach profitable levels until late 2026 or 2027 -- later than bulls had assumed.
That timing matters because Intel is still losing money in manufacturing. In the first quarter of 2026, Intel foundry generated less than $200 million in external customer revenue and posted a steep operating loss. The longer 18A takes to yield well, the longer investors wait for the payoff on a stock that had already priced success in.
Yields aren't a minor detail, either. Every chip that comes off the line unusable is wasted wafer cost, so weak yields squeeze Intel's revenue and its margins at the same time.
This is the pressure that should worry shareholders most. The other two are about competition and mood. This one goes to the heart of why the stock ran in the first place.
AMD passed it in the data center In the first quarter of 2026, AMD out-earned Intel in the data center.
In the first quarter of 2026, AMD's data-center segment generated $5.8 billion in revenue, up 57% year over year. Intel's own data-center business brought in $5.1 billion, up a respectable 22%. The crossover stings, because data-center chips have been Intel's stronghold for decades.
There is some nuance worth noting. AMD's segment includes its Instinct artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators, not just server processors, so part of that lead is a graphics-chip story. Specifically for server processors, Intel still ships about two-thirds of the units. But it now collects only a little more than half the revenue, because AMD keeps winning the higher-priced chips.
Either way, the direction is clear: Intel's grip on its most profitable market is loosening.
A sectorwide sell-off did the rest The final pressure had nothing to do with Intel specifically. A widely read note from a big bank warned of bubble-like conditions in AI stocks, and even a record profit from memory maker Samsung -- read as a sign the memory boom was peaking -- did nothing to lift the mood. Chip stocks sold off across the board.
Intel, already wobbling on its own news, fell harder than most. When sentiment turns against a whole sector, the names with the shakiest stories tend to get hit worst -- and Intel had just handed the market two fresh reasons to worry. The sell-off erased roughly a fifth of the company's market value in a matter of days.
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Does the crash change the case? So has a 21% drop made Intel a bargain? I don't think it's that simple.
Two of the three pressures are arguably just noise. Sector sentiment will swing back eventually, and AMD's data-center lead, while real, was hardly a secret. But the 18A delay is different. It pushes out the single event the bull case was built around, even as the foundry is still burning cash.
And even after the drop, Intel isn't obviously cheap. It's unprofitable on a trailing basis, and its stock still trades at more than 100 times expected earnings over the next 12 months -- a far richer multiple than the broader market, which sits in the low-to-mid 20s.
To be fair, Intel's data-center revenue is still growing, its foundry is slowly signing up outside customers, and 18A may yet ramp on a reasonable timeline. But the stock had been priced for that ramp to materialize this year, and that assumption just took a real hit. Personally, I'd want hard evidence that 18A yields are improving before treating this crash as an opportunity rather than a warning.
Intel Foundry v 1. čtvrtletí utržil 5,4 miliardy USD, ale tržby od externích zákazníků byly jen 174 milionů USD. Provozní ztráta činila 2,4 miliardy USD.
SUQIAN, CHINA - JUNE 1, 2026 - A netizen is using his mobilephone to view intel logo and using his computer to view intel webpage in Suqian, Jiangsu, China on June 1, 2026. (Photo credit should read CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images
This article was written by Doug Nathman, with research by his team at Trefis.
Intel’s (INTC) shares have surged more than 5 times in the last year, advancing from approximately $19 to a recent level around $120. Intel has increased its market capitalization by nearly $500 billion, which is certainly a significant figure.
There are two primary factors contributing to this growth.
Revived CPU demand, with autonomous AI tasks rendering server processors more integral to the AI infrastructure than anticipated a year ago. The broader storyline has been enthusiasm around Intel Foundry, the manufacturing division led by CEO Lip-Bu Tan who aims to establish it as a legitimate external enterprise.
The rationale for investment is quite clear. AI is fueling the need for advanced manufacturing capabilities, customers are seeking to reduce reliance on Taiwan, and Intel is the sole U.S. firm that both designs and fabricates state-of-the-art chips domestically. The organization is striving to evolve its foundry operation from merely a cost center into a world-class contract manufacturer.
Nonetheless, the disparity between the narrative and the financial reality is substantial. External clients account for only a small fraction of foundry income, losses remain considerable, and the strategy has altered several times within just two years. If Intel Foundry is genuinely poised to become a leading semiconductor enterprise, where are the evidence points?
What Q1 2026 Actually IndicatesIntel Foundry achieved $5.4 billion in revenue during Q1 2026, an increase from $4.7 billion in the previous year. External foundry revenue was recorded at $174 million. The operating deficit stood at $2.4 billion, remaining largely unchanged from the $2.3 billion deficit the previous year. For the entire year of 2025, total foundry revenue was $17.8 billion, with external contributions a mere $307 million, alongside a $10.3 billion operating loss for that year. The foundry continues to serve predominantly as an internal supplier for Intel’s own chip designs. This distinction is significant. Manufacturing chips for Intel verifies the technology, yet the financial viability of a foundry only improves when external clients have sufficient trust in the process to commit to large production volumes.
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A Strategy That Has Frequently AlteredUnder Pat Gelsinger’s leadership, Intel established 18A as the premier node for both internal products and external clientele simultaneously. When Lip-Bu Tan assumed leadership in 2025, he shifted the external emphasis towards the subsequent node, 14A, primarily viewing 18A as an internal-only process due to its initial yield difficulties. Enhanced yields and renewed interest from customers in 2026 prompted Intel to once again promote 18A and a new variant, 18A-P, to foundry clients. These shifts in strategy generate uncertainty for customers making multi-billion-dollar, multi-year manufacturing commitments, where stability in processes and consistent roadmaps is vital.
Yield Is Improving, Yet Still Trails TSMCAlthough Intel does not disclose yield information for its manufacturing nodes, industry evaluations indicate that Intel 18A yields are currently within the 50% to 60% range for the Panther Lake compute tile, with further improvements anticipated as production matures. Yields are crucial since they dictate the quantity of functional chips produced from each wafer, directly impacting production costs, profit margins, and a foundry's competitiveness in attracting external customers. Even so, Intel's yields are likely still inferior to those of a fully developed leading-edge TSMC process, where yields frequently surpass 70% to 80%, dependent on die size.
Who’s Actually Expressed InterestMicrosoft (MSFT) has confirmed a custom silicon partnership with Intel, though the specific manufacturing node has not been revealed. AWS is collaborating with Intel on custom Xeon and AI fabric chips, while Apple (AAPL) is reported to have received an initial Intel 18A-P design kit for assessment. Nvidia (NVDA) and SoftBank have also acquired equity in Intel, indicating their confidence in the company’s overarching strategy, although this does not equate to a commitment to produce chips at Intel Foundry. It is crucial to understand the significant distinction between evaluating a process, obtaining a design win, and committing production quantities. Receiving a design kit or verifying a manufacturing process represents an early milestone, but substantial foundry revenue is realized only when clients pledge wafer volumes and transition into mass production.
The Evidence Points Still RequiredThe forthcoming evidence points are clear-cut: a substantial external client committing to significant production volumes, sustained high yields at a commercial scale, and external revenue forming a significant portion of foundry sales. Until these metrics improve, Intel Foundry stands as an encouraging manufacturing platform, but not yet as a demonstrated foundry enterprise.
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Intel v červnu vzrostl o 21,8 % poté, co trh zareagoval na možné partnerství se společností Apple pro výrobu čipů v USA. Další podporu dává rostoucí význam CPU při inferenci v AI.
Shares in Intel Corporation (INTC 5.61%) soared by 21.8% in June, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. There are probably two reasons for the increase, and both speak to the business's longer-term growth potential.
Intel and Apple make an agreement? While its important to note that neither company has confirmed reaching an agreement, in mid-June President Trump announced that Apple (AAPL +4.88%) amd Intel had reached an agreement that they would design and manufacture chips in the U.S. The deal, if confirmed, would be good news for Intel's foundry business as it tries to build scale and better compete with market leader Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM 2.15%).
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A deal would also be in line with the Trump administration's determination to encourage domestic manufacturing, and particularly with key technology providers like Apple. For example, the administration invested and entered into a public-private partnership with rare-earth company MP Materials in July of last year, which was closely followed by a $500 million long-term supply agreement for rare earth magnets between MP Materials and Apple. Given that the Trump administration also invested in Intel in 2025 (acquiring 10% of the company), it's reasonable to expect more pressure for an Apple/Intel deal.
Intel's core business has growth prospects Intel's core business of making central processing units (CPUs) is often seen as secondary to the AI data center build-out, as graphics processing units (GPUs) from Nvidia and others have grabbed attention. GPUs are specialized for building and training large language models (LLMs) and are therefore essential to the buildout of AI infrastructure. Meanwhile, CPUs are used relatively more for inference, such as the AI applications that agents actually run.
Image source: Getty Images.
Indeed, Intel CFO David Zinsner noted on the April earnings call that the GPU-to-CPU ratio in training solutions was up to 8:1, but could drop to 3:1 in inference. He expounded on those remarks in June at a Bank of America technology conference, stating, "the ratio of CPUs to GPUs is growing meaningfully as we get from training to inference, inference to agentic and multiagent and reinforced learning. So it's just going to drive a lot of CPU requirements."
As the market's recognition of the longer-term growth potential in inference AI spending crystallizes, Intel's role in CPU manufacturing will likely be better recognized.
Where next for Intel An Apple deal would be good news, and its confirmation would probably be good news for the stock. Meanwhile, the ongoing recognition of the growing importance of inference spending should also create upside potential for the stock.
Bank of America is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Lee Samaha has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple, Intel, MP Materials, Nvidia, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
