Intel stock jumps on positive outlook despite Q3 losses

Intel (INTC) reported its Q3 earnings after the bell on Thursday, beating expectations on revenue but falling short on earnings per share due to impairment charges. But positive Q4 guidance and a beat on data center revenue helped send the stock higher by as much as 12% following the report.

For the quarter, Intel saw a loss per share of $0.46 on revenue of $13.28 billion. Analysts were anticipating a loss per share of $0.03 on revenue of $13 billion.

That’s down from the earnings of $0.41 per share and revenue of $14.1 billion the company saw in the same quarter last year.

For the fourth quarter, Intel said it expects revenue of between $13.3 billion and $14.3 billion. Wall Street was anticipating $13.6 billion. The company also said it has two new customers for its 18A processor.

Revenue for the company’s data center and AI business came in at $3.35 billion; analysts were looking for $3.1 billion. Intel’s Client Computing segment, which deals with the sale of chips for laptops and desktops, brought in revenue of $7.3 billion, versus expectations of $7.4 billion and $7.8 billion in revenue during the same quarter last year.

Intel’s Foundry business, which is responsible for making chips for Intel and for third-party customers, saw revenue of $4.35 billion. Wall Street was looking for $4.4 billion. The division saw revenue of $4.7 billion in Q3 2023.

Intel is dealing with the fallout from a Reuters report detailing missteps at the firm, including issues with its 18A chip manufacturing process and the dissolution of a potential deal with Waymo to provide chips to the self-driving car company to save cash.

Intel also had some good news in the quarter. In September, the company announced it had entered into an agreement to build custom chips for Amazon Web Services (AMZN). Microsoft (MSFT) also previously entered into an agreement for Intel to build its custom chips. But the company will need to add a slew of additional customers to ensure its foundry business is a success.

Intel’s Foundry services have run into trouble before. According to a separate Reuters report, Broadcom was evaluating using Intel’s manufacturing processes for its own chips, but test runs of the semiconductors fell short.

Intel has also struggled amid a prolonged slump in PC chip sales that’s only beginning to improve and increased competition from AMD (AMD). But there’s hope on the horizon, as PC sales are beginning to pick up again, though they dipped slightly in Q3, according to Gartner.

The company also launched its second-generation Core Ultra chips for laptops, which are designed to handle AI tasks and better compete with Qualcomm’s (QCOM) own Arm-based chips in terms of battery life. Intel’s laptop chips have been energy hogs for years.

FILE – Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger speaks during an event called AI Everywhere in New York, Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File) · ASSOCIATED PRESS

It’s part of the reason Apple (AAPL) decided to ditch the company’s processors in favor of designing its own Arm-based chips. Since then, Apple has managed to squeeze out more power and battery life from its systems than ever before.

Qualcomm and its Snapdragon X Elite chips also offer impressive battery life compared to competing Intel-based machines. But the second-gen Core Ultra is set to change that, using less power while offering comparable performance.

Intel’s Client business is still incredibly important, bringing in the majority of the company’s revenue, so any potential to increase sales there could be a boon for the chip builder.