Intel shares plunge 20 percent on weak guidance

Intel beat third quarter estimates but guided fourth quarter revenue to between 15 billion and 16 billion dollars, well below the 17.1 billion analysts expected, and its shares fell about 20 percent in extended trading.

Why it matters: The miss is in the legacy business, not the AI one: client computing revenue fell 5 percent while data centre and AI revenue rose 78 percent, and Intel now expects the PC slowdown to run at least through the first half of next year.

Data as of Intel's Form 8-K filed October 29, 2026 (accession 0000050863-26-000188), read in full in this run, furnishes the company's third quarter press release as Exhibit 99.1, covering results for the quarter ended September 26, 2026 and forward looking statements for the fourth quarter. The figures, segment detail, consensus comparisons and executive comments are from CNBC and Investing.com reporting of that release, read in full in this run; the two reports put the fourth quarter revenue consensus at 17.1 billion dollars (LSEG, via CNBC) and 17.08 billion (Investing.com). One wire headline referred to an Israel fab incident; neither article read in this run mentions one, and no such incident is stated here.

Intel reported third quarter revenue of 16.51 billion dollars, up 21 percent from 13.7 billion a year earlier and in line with the 16.5 billion analysts expected, with adjusted earnings of 52 cents a share against expectations of 40 cents, CNBC reported. The quarter split along the industry’s fault line. Data centre and AI revenue rose 78 percent to 7.3 billion dollars, while client computing and physical AI revenue fell 5 percent to 8.1 billion and missed estimates. Investing.com put Intel Foundry revenue up 58 percent at 6.7 billion dollars and adjusted gross margin at 44.1 percent, up from 40 percent a year earlier.

The fourth quarter outlook is what the market traded on. Intel guided revenue to between 15 billion and 16 billion dollars and adjusted earnings to 25 cents a share, against analyst expectations of 17.1 billion dollars and 43 cents, and guided gross margin down to about 38 percent. The midpoint of the revenue range is about 9 percent below consensus. Shares fell about 20 percent in extended trading, after a run that had left the stock up about 150 percent this year despite a roughly 23 percent fall in October.

Chief executive Lip-Bu Tan said demand for Intel’s CPUs is still strong despite near term PC headwinds. Finance chief David Zinsner, who signed the filing, said the company sees the PC slowdown continuing at least through the first half of next year, with global PC shipments having fallen 4 percent in the second quarter as memory and component costs rose, according to Counterpoint Research figures cited by CNBC.

Intel shares plunge 20 percent on weak guidance

Sources