Intel Q1 Lift, Leadership Notes
- Intel said on April 23 that first-quarter 2026 revenue rose to $13.6 billion, up 7% from a year earlier, as the chipmaker topped its own guidance for sales, margin and earnings. - Chief executive Lip-Bu Tan said Intel beat expectations for a sixth straight quarter, with demand still outpacing supply for Xeon server chips and new Xeon 6 and Core Series 3 products ramping fastest in five years. - The results landed weeks after Intel named Dr. Craig H. Barratt its next independent chair, extending a broader leadership and strategy reset under Tan. (intel.com)
Intel reported $13.6 billion in first-quarter 2026 revenue on April 23, up 7% from a year earlier and above the high end of its guidance. (intc.com) (intel.com) The company said first-quarter earnings per share was a loss of $0.73 on a Generally Accepted Accounting Principles basis, while non-GAAP earnings per share was $0.29. Intel forecast second-quarter 2026 revenue of $13.8 billion to $14.8 billion and non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.20. (intc.com) Lip-Bu Tan said revenue, gross margin and earnings per share all came in above the high end of guidance, marking Intel’s sixth straight quarter of beating its own financial outlook. (intel.com) Tan said demand still exceeds supply across Intel’s businesses, with the tightest conditions in Xeon server central processing units. He said Intel 3-based Xeon 6 and Intel 18A-based Core Series 3 are in full volume ramp and are the company’s fastest new product ramps in five years. (intel.com) That matters because Intel has spent the past two years trying to prove it can stabilize its core chip business while rebuilding its manufacturing operation. In first-quarter 2025, the company reported $12.7 billion in revenue and announced a new efficiency drive aimed at cutting 2025 operating expenses to about $17 billion and 2026 expenses to $16 billion. (intel.com) Tan described Intel in the April 23 prepared remarks as “a very different company” from a year earlier, pointing to a stronger balance sheet, a new leadership team and an engineering-focused culture. (intel.com) The leadership changes extend to the board. Intel said on March 3 that Frank D. Yeary will retire after the May 13, 2026 annual stockholders’ meeting and that Dr. Craig H. Barratt will become independent chair at that point. (intel.com) Barratt joined Intel’s board in November 2025 after earlier roles at Barefoot Networks, Qualcomm Atheros and Intel’s networking businesses. Intel said Yeary had served on the board since 2009 and as chair since 2023. (intel.com 1) (intel.com 2) Intel’s April 23 report did not name the board change as part of the earnings release, but the timing ties a stronger quarter to a board transition already set for May. The next marker is Intel’s annual meeting, when Barratt is due to take the chair. (intc.com) (intel.com)
