On Thursday Intel posted better-than-expected Q4 2025 results, but disappointed investors by unveiling guidance that was deemed insufficient for early 2026. Quarterly revenue came in at $13.7bn, versus $13.4bn expected, while profit was 15 cents per share, well above the 8 cents expected. However, the company projected break-even at the bottom line, with revenue of between $11.7bn and $12.7bn for Q1, below the consensus. The stock slid nearly 6% in after-hours trading.
Despite a 147% y-o-y rise in the share price, fueled by optimism around its foundry division, Intel posted a net loss of $600m for the quarter, worse than a year earlier. The group is banking on its 18A manufacturing technology, which competes with TSMC's 2 nm process, to strengthen its positioning. CEO Lip-Bu Tan said 18A had "outperformed" in 2025 and that volume production would ramp up with the new Core Ultra Series 3 processors. CFO David Zinsner said the first 14A customers are expected to emerge in H2 2026.
The foundry division, including internal production, generated $4.5bn in revenue, while sales in the Data Center and AI segment rose 9% to $4.7bn, supported by demand for AI infrastructure. In contrast, the laptop-focused unit fell 7% to $8.2bn. Intel said its supply capacity remains under pressure due to seasonal demand. The group also sold shares to Nvidia for $5bn, while SoftBank and the US government also feature amongst its recent major investors.
Intel Corporation is the world leading manufacturer of semiconductor. Net sales break down by family of products and services as follows:
- computing architectures products (69.7%): processors and microprocessors (Pentium, Intel Xeon brands, etc.), graphics cards, chips and motherboards, connectivity products, cellular modems, Ethernet controllers, network components, storage products, etc. for PCs, servers, data centers, cloud networks, workstations, notebooks, Internet of Things, graphics architectures, intelligent peripherals and communications infrastructures. The group also develops associated software;
- wafer manufacturing services (25.3%): accelerators, monolithic chips, silicon wafers, etc. The group also offers chiplet software and mask manufacturing equipment for advanced lithography;
- other (5%).
Net sales (including intragroup) are distributed geographically as follows: the United States (29.8%), China (24%), Singapore (18.1%), Taiwan (14.5%) and other (13.6%).
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