Why Intel's stock is soaring despite billions in losses
For a change, mass layoffs aren't saving Intel's stock reputation. Instead, the outlook until summer is bright.
(Image: Mark Mantel / heise medien)
Intel reports an operating loss of 3.1 billion US dollars and a net loss of 3.7 billion US dollars for the first quarter of 2026. A year ago, it was “only” 301 million and 821 million US dollars, respectively. Nevertheless, the stock jumped more than 18 percent in after-hours trading on Thursday evening. On the one hand, the current revenue of 13.6 billion US dollars (+7% year-on-year) is above Intel's last outlook, and on the other hand, the forecast for the second quarter significantly exceeds Wall Street expectations.
Analysts had expected Intel to report around 13.1 billion US dollars in its new outlook. In fact, it is 13.8 billion to 14.8 billion US dollars for the second quarter. At the same time, Intel forecasts net profit of several million US dollars. It would be the first green quarter without billion-dollar one-off effects since 2023.
One item significantly impacted Intel's first quarter: restructuring and other expenses. Intel booked almost 4.1 billion US dollars for this. Typically, this consists largely of severance packages for terminated employees. In 2025, Intel laid off over 20,000 employees. Operating cash flow increased by 35 percent to 1.1 billion US dollars.
Videos by heise
More and more expensive processors
The increase in revenue is primarily due to price increases for processors and a higher proportion of Xeon models for servers and (AI) data centers. With the rise of AI agents, CPUs suitable for their execution are coming back into focus.
Intel has switched production lines from desktop and notebook processors to Xeon. Consequently, revenue in the Data Center and AI Group increased by 22 percent year-on-year to almost 5.1 billion US dollars. With an operating profit of a good 1.5 billion US dollars, the division has left the hard times behind.
The Client Computing Group, encompassing all Core processors for desktop PCs and notebooks, is stagnating at 7.7 billion US dollars in revenue. Higher prices offset lower production volumes. With an operating profit of 2.5 billion US dollars, it is more profitable. The group-wide margin consequently increased year-on-year from 36.9 to 39.4 percent.
Foundry still deep in the red
Revenue at the chip manufacturing subsidiary Intel Foundry increased by 16 percent to 5.4 billion US dollars. Intel itself remains the sole major customer, accounting for 97 percent of revenue. The growth is likely driven primarily by high CPU demand in AI data centers. The operating loss remains enormous at 2.4 billion US dollars.
All announced partnerships, including those with Google and Elon Musk's companies, remain a matter for the future for now. They are not yet bringing money into the coffers.
Empfohlener redaktioneller Inhalt
Mit Ihrer Zustimmung wird hier ein externer Preisvergleich (heise Preisvergleich) geladen.
Ich bin damit einverstanden, dass mir externe Inhalte angezeigt werden. Damit können personenbezogene Daten an Drittplattformen (heise Preisvergleich) übermittelt werden. Mehr dazu in unserer Datenschutzerklärung.
(mma)
