Intel’s AI‑Fueled Quarter
- Intel said on April 23 that first-quarter 2026 revenue rose 7% to $13.6 billion, with results and second-quarter guidance above its prior range as demand for Xeon server chips stayed strong. - Intel posted non-GAAP earnings of $0.29 a share, up from $0.13 a year earlier, and guided second-quarter revenue to $13.8 billion to $14.8 billion after topping Q1 expectations. - The report extends Intel’s streak to six straight quarters above guidance and sharpens the case that its manufacturing reset is gaining traction. (intc.com)
Intel reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of $13.6 billion on April 23, topping its own outlook and pointing to another quarter of stronger sales. (intc.com) The company said revenue rose 7% from $12.7 billion a year earlier, while non-GAAP earnings per share increased to $0.29 from $0.13. Intel forecast second-quarter revenue of $13.8 billion to $14.8 billion and non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.20. (intc.com) Chief executive Lip-Bu Tan said the quarter marked Intel’s sixth straight period of beating its financial expectations. Chief financial officer David Zinsner said revenue, gross margin and earnings per share all finished above the high end of guidance. (download.intel.com) (intc.com) The core explanation was demand for processors that run artificial-intelligence workloads and for the factory capacity needed to package and ship those chips. Tan said the next wave of artificial intelligence is moving toward inference and agentic systems, increasing demand for Intel CPUs, wafers and advanced packaging. (intc.com) That matters because Intel is trying to prove two businesses can recover at once: the chip products it sells under its own brand and the manufacturing network it wants others to use. Intel said Intel 3-based Xeon 6 server chips and Intel 18A-based Core Series 3 products are now in full volume ramp. (download.intel.com) Server chips are central to that pitch because they are the processors that sit in data-center racks and feed artificial-intelligence systems. Intel said demand is running ahead of supply across its businesses, “especially for Xeon server CPUs,” and it expects that momentum to continue through 2026 and 2027. (download.intel.com) The quarter was not clean on a GAAP basis. Intel reported a net loss attributable to shareholders of $3.7 billion, or $0.73 a share, versus a loss of $0.8 billion, or $0.19 a share, a year earlier. (intc.com) Intel also noted that year-over-year comparisons were affected by the September 12, 2025 deconsolidation of Altera after the sale of 51% of that business. That means some of the product-line comparisons do not line up cleanly with last year’s quarter. (intc.com) For now, the company is selling a simpler message: more server-chip demand, more factory output, and another quarter above guidance. Intel’s next test is whether it can turn that demand into sustained profit as 2026 unfolds. (download.intel.com) (intc.com)
