{
  "id": 8545902,
  "title": "Intel Can Supply Only About Half of What Its Customers Want. That's a Better Problem Than It Sounds.",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/19/intel-can-supply-only-about-half-of-what-its-customers-want-thats-a-8545902",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-19T22:01:01.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Finance",
    "slug": "yahoo-finance",
    "url": "https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/intel-supply-only-half-customers-220101806.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan revealed at Splunk's .conf26 conference that the chipmaker is currently able to fulfill only approximately 50% of customer demand for its processors. This shortfall is attributed to a surge in demand for central processing units (CPUs) to run artificial intelligence (AI) inference, which is a critical step in AI model and agent execution. Tan emphasized that this demand is greater than what customers are asking for, and Intel's manufacturing capacity cannot keep up.\n\nInvestors often overlook Intel due to missed opportunities in the past, with Nvidia being the primary focus. However, according to analysts, Intel is in the midst of the R&D phase of the AI boom, which will eventually lead to the global rollout. Despite the supply shortage, the stock price has shown resilience, with Intel's shares trading around $109, up about 6% this week and more than triple their price from a year ago.\n\nIntel's financial performance has improved significantly, with revenue growth reaching 25% in the second quarter of 2026, up from just 3% in the third quarter of 2025. The company's data center and AI segment grew 59% in the second quarter, while client computing and physical AI segment grew 13%. Management forecasts revenue to reach between $15.8 billion and $16.8 billion in the third quarter, implying a 19% growth rate.\n\nIntel's fixed-cost nature means that gross margins heavily depend on the volume of products produced. Despite falling margins a year ago, Intel's non-GAAP gross margin climbed to 41% in the second quarter of 2026 and is expected to remain at 42% in the third quarter. The company is investing in new manufacturing capacity, including the production of its 18A process and the upcoming 14A process, which is expected to ramp up in the first quarter of 2027.\n\nWhile unmet demand presents costs and may persist into 2027, the shortage is considered a positive development for Intel. The recovery is ongoing, and gross margins continue to improve. However, the stock's price is already factoring in strong execution and future growth, making it a relatively expensive investment. Therefore, despite Intel's challenges, it may not be considered a buy at its current valuation.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Motley Fool",
        "title": "Intel Can Supply Only About Half of What Its Customers Want. That's a Better Problem Than It Sounds.",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/19/intel-can-supply-only-about-half-of-what-its-customers-want-thats-a",
        "published": "2026-09-19T21:41:01.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Nasdaq Markets",
        "title": "Intel Can Supply Only About Half of What Its Customers Want. That's a Better Problem Than It Sounds.",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/19/intel-can-supply-only-about-half-of-what-its-customers-want-thats-a-8551550",
        "published": "2026-09-19T22:01:01.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}