Intel rally shows AI demand broadening
- Intel shares surged on Friday, April 24, after the chipmaker reported first-quarter revenue of $13.58 billion and forecast a stronger June quarter, pointing to rising artificial-intelligence demand for its server CPUs. - The clearest signal came in data center and AI: revenue rose 22% to $5.1 billion, and Intel said tight supply forced it to sell older chips it had previously written off. - The rally spread across semiconductors, lifting AMD, Arm and the Philadelphia chip index, as investors bet AI spending is expanding beyond Nvidia’s graphics processors. (reuters.com)
Intel’s Friday surge turned one earnings report into a broader bet that artificial-intelligence demand is no longer flowing only to Nvidia. (reuters.com) Intel reported first-quarter revenue of $13.58 billion on April 23, up 7.2% from a year earlier, with adjusted earnings of 29 cents a share versus analyst estimates of 1 cent. (cnbc.com) For the June quarter, Intel forecast revenue of $13.8 billion to $14.8 billion and adjusted earnings of 20 cents a share, ahead of Wall Street expectations for about $13.07 billion and 9 cents. (cnbc.com) The strongest growth came from data center and artificial intelligence, where revenue climbed 22% to $5.1 billion. Intel said demand for central processing units, or CPUs, was being pulled higher by AI inference, the stage when models answer user prompts. (cnbc.com) (reuters.com) Inference uses chips differently than training. Training is the heavy lifting that built Nvidia’s lead in graphics processors, while inference often depends on CPUs to move data, manage memory and serve answers inside data centers. (reuters.com) (theregister.com) That shift showed up in Intel’s inventory. Chief Financial Officer David Zinsner said first-quarter demand was tight enough that Intel sold “de-spec” and legacy chips it had shelved, products it had not expected to move. (reuters.com) Investors treated that as evidence that AI hardware spending is broadening. Intel jumped more than 24% to about $83 in early Friday trading, while AMD and Arm each gained more than 11%. (reuters.com) The move spilled into the wider sector. The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index rose 3.2% to a record high on Friday and was on track for an 18th straight daily gain, with the index up more than 47% in 2026. (reuters.com) Intel’s stock reaction also reflected how sharply expectations have changed. Reuters reported that at least 23 brokerages raised their price targets after the results, and the median target rose to $75 from $46.50 a month earlier. (reuters.com) The company is not fully out of trouble. Intel still posted a net loss of $4.28 billion in the quarter, even as revenue improved and demand outpaced supply in several businesses. (cnbc.com) (intel.com) What changed this week is the market’s view of where AI money is landing. Nvidia still dominates training chips, but Intel’s results suggested the next phase of spending also needs the processors that help run AI systems after they are built. (reuters.com) (cnbc.com)
