Intel shares drop after weak forecast over global PC slowdown

Intel's stock fell 24% in early trading on October 30 after the company released a disappointing fourth-quarter forecast due to a slowdown in the global PC market. The semiconductor giant reported a revenue of $16.5 billion for the third quarter, up 21% from the previous year, meeting its expectations. However, the revenue from its client computing and physical AI division decreased by 5% to $8.1 billion, while data center and AI products increased by 78% to $7.3 billion.

Intel's CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, attributed the growth to "improving execution" and "meaningful progress expanding supply." He stated that demand for their CPUs remains robust despite the near-term challenges in the PC industry. Memory prices have surged due to unprecedented demand for AI chips, negatively impacting the consumer devices market, including personal computers.

According to Counterpoint Research, global PC shipments declined by 21% compared to the previous year, with a forecast of a 27% drop in sales for the upcoming quarter.

Intel's CFO, David Zinsner, expressed optimism about opportunities in the company's broader portfolio and emphasized their commitment to disciplined investments in capacity and working capital to boost supply and future growth. The company expects to generate between $15 billion and $16 billion in revenue in the upcoming quarter, which is lower than analysts' expectations of around $17.1 billion for Q4.

Recently, Intel announced its acquisition of Israeli quantum company Classiq to create a full-stack quantum computing platform. The company has been investing in quantum technology since 2015, and completed a $23 billion public equity offering in August to fund future growth opportunities. In the past six months, Intel let go of around 1,200 employees.