Intel Plunges Nearly 30% in Worst Drop in 50 Years — SkimNews
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- Intel shares plunged nearly 30% to $65.76 on Friday, erasing more than $146 billion in market value in the company’s worst single-day decline in more than 50 years.
- Intel’s Q4 outlook calls for revenue of $15 billion to $16 billion, putting the $15.5 billion midpoint roughly $1.6 billion below Wall Street’s $17.07 billion estimate; adjusted EPS is forecast at $0.25 versus $0.43 expected.
- Intel’s Q3 results showed revenue of $16.5 billion, up 21% year over year, and adjusted EPS of $0.52; the result beat guidance of $0.38 and Wall Street’s $0.40 and marked an eighth consecutive quarter above expectations.
- Intel’s Data Center and AI division generated $7.3 billion in revenue, up 78% year over year, and $3 billion in operating profit, equal to 42% of revenue.
- Gross margin was forecast to fall from 44.1% in the third quarter to 38% in Q4, with Intel citing weaker PC demand, server-processor manufacturing constraints and an accident at a factory in Israel.
- Intel expects the PC market to contract through 2027, when it will treat the year as an investment period; CFO Dave Zinsner said positive free cash flow is unlikely, though Intel expects at least a 20% return on invested capital from manufacturing-node investments.
- Nvidia invested $5 billion in Intel in September 2025 and agreed to collaborate on custom processors for PCs and data centers; a preliminary Apple manufacturing agreement later helped lift Intel above $130 in May.
Why it matters: For Intel shareholders, $146 billion in market value vanished because a roughly $1.6 billion guidance gap and a margin drop to 38% outweighed 78% data-center growth. Intel has AI demand it cannot manufacture, while factory investment leaves 2027 unlikely to generate positive free cash flow, CFO Dave Zinsner said.
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