Intel gains 25%: the company’s shares jumped after the report was published

Intel’s financial results for the second quarter of 2026 turned out to be one of the strongest for the company in recent years. The chipmaker not only exceeded analysts’ forecasts on almost all key indicators, but also presented more optimistic expectations for the second half of the year. Investors reacted positively to the report, with Intel shares rising more than 13% immediately after the publication.

Report details

According to published data, quarterly turnover reached $16.1 billion, an increase of 25% compared to the same period last year. This growth rate was the highest for Intel since the early 2010s.

The company also improved its own forecast. In the third quarter, Intel expects to generate revenue in the range of $15.8 billion to $16.8 billion, while the market consensus predicted a more modest number.

The main contribution was made by processors for PCs and data centers

Despite the active development of the AI accelerator market, the traditional processor business has again become one of the key sources of Intel’s growth.

Revenue of the division, which sells its own processors and other solutions, reached $15.1 billion. This is almost one and a half billion dollars higher than the expectations of analysts, who predicted about $13.6 billion.

Significant growth was also provided by the direction of server solutions and equipment for data processing centers. Revenues of the Data Center and AI division immediately increased by 59%, amounting to 6.3 billion dollars. This result turned out to be much higher than forecasts and indicates the expansion of the infrastructure necessary for the operation of artificial intelligence systems.

An additional growth factor was the increase in the average cost of individual products, thanks to which the company managed to increase revenue not only due to the volume of deliveries, but also due to a change in the sales structure.

Contract manufacturing continues to gain momentum

Another driver of the quarter was the Intel Foundry division, which is responsible for the contract production of chips.

During the reporting period, its revenue increased by 31%, reaching 5.8 billion dollars. The company continues to invest in the development of this direction, expecting to attract new customers, who today place production mainly with Asian manufacturers.

Intel does not hide that the contract business is considered as one of the strategic directions for the coming years, capable of diversifying the company’s income.

Intel increases spending on enterprise modernization

Simultaneously with the publication of the financial statements, the management announced the adjustment of the investment program.

If earlier capital expenditures for 2026 were estimated at approximately 18 billion dollars, now the bar has been raised to 20 billion. The company explains this by the need to accelerate the renewal of production lines and purchase additional equipment for the production of new generations of semiconductors.

At the same time, Intel has already warned that the high level of investment will continue in the next year, as the modernization of factories remains one of the main elements of the long-term strategy.

GAAP loss

Despite strong operating results, official GAAP reporting again showed a net loss of about $11 billion.

The company attributed this significant difference to the accounting features of the agreement with the US government. It is not about the deterioration of the current activity, but about the financial adjustments related to the valuation of the issued shares and the investment agreement.

At the same time, Intel’s adjusted net profit for the quarter was $2.2 billion, which is significantly different from the GAAP indicator.

Waiting for Intel

The company believes that the AI market is gradually entering a new phase. If in the last few years the main source of demand was graphic accelerators used for training large language models, then more and more attention is paid to calculations during operation of already trained neural networks.

It is about the so-called AI inference — processing user requests, performing calculations and operating services based on ready-made models. For such tasks, according to Intel, central processors will play an increasingly prominent role alongside graphics accelerators.

A similar assessment was recently presented by AMD. CEO Lisa Su raised her forecast for the global processor market by the end of the decade from $120 billion to $220 billion, pointing to rapidly growing demand from artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Course to return to the ranks of technological leaders

In the last few years, Intel has been conducting a large-scale transformation of its business. The company is simultaneously updating its own production facilities, developing a contract direction, expanding the line of server processors and preparing new specialized accelerators for artificial intelligence tasks.

By the end of the year, Intel expects to present a new generation of AI accelerators, as well as to continue work on attracting large customers to its own contract manufacturing.

The publication of quarterly reports showed that the company is gradually recovering its financial performance after a prolonged period of restructuring. However, further dynamics will largely depend on whether Intel can consolidate its success in the AI ​​​​infrastructure segment and increase competition from NVIDIA, AMD and TSMC.