Company Reports

Intel’s best days are behind it as the company faces a much more difficult processor landscape today with AMD, Nvidia, and Apple all in the mix, all while its manufacturing arm is at a competitive disadvantage. Although Intel is unlikely to recapture its former glory, the firm is making the right moves on the road to recovery and has opportunities ahead. We ultimately think the best case for Intel will be solidifying its PC processor, or CPU, business, riding the wave of agentic AI demand for server CPUs, and receiving support from outside investors to get Intel Foundry back on a solid footing.

Intel reported impressive second-quarter revenue of $16.1 billion, up 25% year over year and ahead of the high end of guidance of $14.8 billion. Intel expects third-quarter revenue of $16.3 billion, which would be up 19% year over year and ahead of FactSet consensus estimates of $15.1 billion.

Intel and Apple have reached a preliminary agreement for Intel to manufacture some chips on behalf of Apple, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. Neither Apple nor Intel commented on the story, and no financial or technological details were disclosed.

Intel’s best days are behind it as the company faces a much more difficult processor landscape today with AMD, Nvidia, and Apple all in the mix, all while its manufacturing arm is at a competitive disadvantage. Although Intel is unlikely to recapture its former glory, the firm is making the right moves on the road to recovery and has opportunities ahead. We ultimately think the best case for Intel will be solidifying its PC processor, or CPU, business, riding the wave of agentic AI demand for server CPUs, and receiving support from outside investors to get Intel Foundry back on a solid footing.

We are raising our fair value estimate for no-moat Intel to $90 from $60. Server processor demand is poised to grow faster than our prior expectations, which bodes well for Intel over the next five years.

Intel’s best days are behind it as the company faces a much more difficult processor landscape today with AMD, Nvidia, and Apple all in the mix, all while its manufacturing arm is at a competitive disadvantage. Although Intel is unlikely to recapture its former glory, the firm is making the right moves on the road to recovery and has opportunities ahead. We ultimately think the best case for Intel will be solidifying its PC processor, or CPU, business, riding the wave of agentic AI demand for server CPUs, and receiving support from outside investors to get Intel Foundry back on a solid footing.

Intel reported first-quarter revenue of $13.6 billion, up 7% year over year and well above the high end of guidance of $12.7 billion. Intel expects June-quarter revenue of $14.3 billion, up 11% year over year and above FactSet consensus estimates of $13.1 billion.

Intel’s best days are behind it as the company strives to develop advanced processors—CPUs—in its products segment versus AMD, Nvidia, and Apple, all while its manufacturing arm is at a competitive disadvantage. While in this difficult position, the company is making the proper moves to close the gap, in our view. The best case for Intel (and its investors) will be to stop the bleeding in PC and server CPUs while receiving support from outside investors to get Intel Foundry back on solid footing.

Intel’s fourth-quarter revenue was $13.7 billion, flat sequentially and down 4% year over year, but toward the high end of guidance. Intel’s first-quarter revenue guidance of $12.2 billion at the midpoint would be down 11% sequentially and worse than FactSet consensus.

Intel’s best days are behind it, as it currently has a chip manufacturing disadvantage against Taiwan Semiconductor, or TSMC, and its processor partners, such as AMD, Nvidia, and Apple. It is possible that the best outcome for Intel investors is a breakup of its chip design (Intel products segment) and manufacturing (Intel Foundry) businesses.

Intel’s best days are behind it, as it currently has a chip manufacturing disadvantage against Taiwan Semiconductor, or TSMC, and its processor partners, such as AMD, Nvidia, and Apple. It is possible that the best outcome for Intel investors is a breakup of its chip design (Intel products segment) and manufacturing (Intel Foundry) businesses.

Intel reported third-quarter revenue of $13.7 billion, up 6% sequentially, up 3% year over year, and above the high end of guidance. Adjusted gross margin of 40% also exceeded guidance of 36%.

Intel and Nvidia announced a collaboration to jointly develop multiple generations of custom data center and PC products. Nvidia will also invest $5 billion in Intel’s common stock at a price of $23.28 per share.

Intel’s best days are behind it, as it currently has a chip manufacturing disadvantage against Taiwan Semiconductor, or TSMC, and its processor partners, such as AMD, Nvidia, and Apple. It is possible that the best outcome for Intel investors is a breakup of its chip design (Intel products segment) and manufacturing (Intel Foundry) businesses.

On Friday, Aug. 22, Intel and the US government formally announced an agreement in which the US government will make an $8.9 billion investment in Intel’s common stock at a price of $20.47 per share, representing a 9.9% stake.

Intel announced that SoftBank Group will buy $2 billion of Intel shares at $23 per share as SoftBank invests in US chip manufacturing. Separately, the US government appears to be closer to a deal to use Chips and Science Act funds to acquire a 10% stake in Intel. Shares rose 7% on the news.

Bloomberg reported that the US government is in discussions with Intel to potentially take a stake in the chipmaker. Intel’s shares rose 7% on the news.

Intel reported second-quarter revenue of $12.9 billion, flat year over year, up 1.5% sequentially and above the high end of guidance. Third-quarter revenue guidance of $13.1 billion was ahead of FactSet consensus estimates and would be up 2% sequentially and down 1% year over year.

Intel reported first-quarter revenue of $12.7 billion, flattish year over year but toward the high end of guidance, while gross margin exceeded guidance. Second-quarter revenue is expected to be $11.8 billion at the midpoint of guidance, below the FactSet consensus estimate of $12.8 billion.

Intel entered into a definitive agreement to sell 51% of its business in Altera to Silver Lake, which values the total business at $8.75 billion. The deal raises cash for Intel, which will likely be poured into its chip manufacturing (foundry) efforts. Intel paid $16.7 billion for Altera in 2015.