Intel shares plummeted more than 20% in extended trading on Thursday after the chipmaker issued a weak fourth-quarter forecast, citing continued softness in the global PC market.

Here's how the company did in the third quarter, compared with estimates from analysts polled by LSEG:

  • Earnings per share: 52 cents adjusted vs. 40 cents expected
  • Revenue: $16.51 billion vs. $16.5 billion expected

Revenue climbed 21% from $13.7 billion a year earlier, the company said in a press release.

However, revenue in Intel's client computing and physical AI group fell 5% from the same quarter a year ago to $8.1 billion, missing estimates, even as data center and AI revenue jumped 78% to $7.3 billion.

Global PC shipments declined 4% in the second quarter from a year earlier due to soaring costs for memory and other components, according to Counterpoint Research.

For the current quarter, Intel said it expects adjusted earnings per share of 25 cents on revenue between $15 billion and $16 billion. Analysts were expecting revenue of $17.1 billion and EPS of 43 cents, according to LSEG.

"We see the PC slowdown continuing at least through the first half of next year," Intel finance chief David Zinsner, said in the release. "We will continue making disciplined investments in capacity and working capital to increase supply and support future growth."

Intel's forecast reflects the effects of an explosion at a fab in Israel that killed two workers and seriously injured a third earlier this month. The incident will cost the company about $600 million in lost revenue over two quarters, Zinsner said on Thursday's earnings. CEO Lip-Bu Tan said the explosion, which he called an "unfortunate and tragic accident," caused an "extended shutdown" at the plant, impacting shipments of 10-nanometer chips.

Intel's stock has been on an upward tear, up about 150% so far this year prior to the earnings report, although it's down roughly 23% in October over growing concern over the size of the artificial intelligence buildout.

"We will remain disciplined as we invest, and we will not spend $1 of capital unless we have confidence in the health of our products and process technologies, and clear evidence of customer demand," Zinsner said on the call.

Nvidia, which has become the world's most valuable company thanks to its dominance in graphics processing units, or GPUs, is scheduled to report results in mid-November. Advanced Micro Devices, a maker of GPUs and central processing units, or CPUs, reports next week.

Known best for its industry-leading CPUs, Intel has been a beneficiary of the rise in agentic AI. While chatbots and large models rely heavily on graphics processors from Nvidia and AMD, agentic applications such as Meta's Muse and OpenAI's Dots lean on CPUs to help orchestrate tasks and data from a computer operating in the cloud.

"Despite near term headwinds affecting the broader PC industry, we continue to see robust demand for CPUs and more broadly, for all our computing platforms in the long term," Tan said in the press release.

Intel's foundry business, meanwhile, has struggled to find its footing.

Intel is the only U.S.-based manufacturer of advanced logic chips, and is now in high-volume production of its most advanced 18A chip out of its new fab in Arizona, providing an alternative to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Its next fab in Arizona is expected to begin operations by the end of 2028.

For now, Intel has no major external customers for its new chips.

"We're going to have a couple of customers ready to announce the next two quarters," Tan said on the call, adding that Intel is making "tremendous progress" on its coming 14A chips.

The Trump administration took a 10% stake in Intel last year after the company had fallen behind on its 7- and 10-nanometer technologies. Nvidia and Softbank also invested billions in Intel last year.

Tan has taken a more cautious approach to foundry spending than his predecessor, Pat Gelsinger, who launched an ambitious revival of the foundry business.

Last week, Intel said crews have installed the first structural truss at its huge Ohio fab that was originally expected to deliver chips in 2025.

In September, reports surfaced that the world's leading maker of high-bandwidth memory, SK Hynix may team up with Intel in Ohio to lease some foundry space to make memory chips at the new site. Neither company would confirm any plans.

"We continue to evaluate unique and highly differentiated opportunities to accelerate our Ohio build out, and I hope to share more on this in the near future" Tan said on the call.

Intel completed a $23 billion equity offering in August. Tech giants have spent trillions of dollars in recent years to meet insatiable demand for AI and the infrastructure needed to support it.

Tan said he's "disappointed that we were not able to meet strong customer demand in this quarter."

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