Intel has lost market leadership over the past decade to Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia, which has become dominant in Artificial Intelligence and accelerated computing. The company is pursuing a broad turnaround under CEO Lip-Bu Tan, supported by new private and public capital. SoftBank agreed to invest Not stated billion in common stock, and the U.S. government announced an Not stated billion equity stake equal to nearly 10 percent of the company, enabled by CHIPS Act grants and the Secure Enclave program. Those commitments provide permanent capital and warrants to increase the stake, and are intended to accelerate Intel´s Not stated billion-plus U.S. expansion plan.
Despite revenue in the most recent quarter coming in above prior guidance, profitability remains under pressure. Second-quarter gross margin was 29.7 percent, with management saying adjusted gross margin excluding one-time items would have been 37.5 percent. Reported and adjusted per-share figures and several cash-flow line items were not fully stated in the article and are marked Not stated. Intel ended the quarter with Not stated in cash and short-term investments and reported negative free cash flow driven by heavy gross capital expenditures. Management highlighted capital discipline and acknowledged that not delivering a full year of positive free cash flow since 2021 was ´completely unacceptable.´
Foundry expansion and new process nodes are central to the strategy. Intel Foundry revenue slipped sequentially but exceeded expectations, 18A has begun production in Arizona, and Panther Lake will be the first major client CPU on 18A later this year. The company is also offering an early 14A process design kit to lead customers. Intel aims to compete with TSMC and Samsung on advanced nodes while refocusing resources by monetizing noncore assets. Wall Street consensus is largely a hold, with 33 of 39 analysts rating the stock a hold; other numerical analyst targets and specific earnings-per-share projections were Not stated. The turnaround is framed as long term, high risk and high reward, and Intel is not yet on the same growth trajectory as AMD or Nvidia.
