Intel forecasts $15–16 billion in fourth-quarter revenue

Intel lowered its fourth-quarter 2026 outlook on 29 October as manufacturing shortages limited chip supplies and weaker personal-computer demand weighed on sales. The company forecast revenue and adjusted earnings below analyst expectations.

The weaker outlook followed a third quarter ended 26 September in which revenue rose 21% year on year and met analyst expectations. Adjusted earnings exceeded estimates.

Intel shares fell 23% in after-hours trading following the announcement, rather than at the regular-session close.

Latest · 31 October 2026

Intel shares fell 28% on Friday, and the company lost more than $130 billion in stock-market value, the BBC reported, following Thursday’s earnings report and weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue forecast.

Intel expects shutdown to reduce server-chip supplies

An October explosion forced a two-week shutdown at Intel’s Kiryat Gat factory in Israel, which mainly produces data-center chips. Intel said the disruption would reduce supplies of server chips for superintelligence (SI) to customers running cloud computing services.

Chief financial officer David Zinsner told Reuters that the disruption reduced Intel’s fourth-quarter revenue outlook by roughly $300 million. It also cut the gross-margin forecast—the share of revenue left after production costs—by about 200 basis points, measured in hundredths of a percentage point. He expected similar revenue and margin effects in first-quarter 2027.

Zinsner said Intel planned to ramp production back up by the end of the week of the announcement. Intel was still determining which wafers, the discs on which chips are made, could be salvaged for use and sale. Zinsner said the financial effects could extend beyond the affected quarters.

Intel forecasts a sharper fall in PC-chip revenue

Intel forecasts a fourth-quarter PC-chip revenue decline in the mid-20% range, following a third-quarter decline of 5% to $8.1 billion.

CEO Lip-Bu Tan cited manufacturing shortages, a memory crunch and resulting weakness in PC demand as near-term challenges. Rising memory prices have increased PC costs and weighed on demand. Intel warned that weak demand could persist through the first half of 2027.

Factory spending continues as Intel expects cash outflow

Tan, who led Cadence Design Systems from 2009 to 2021, is pursuing a turnaround that relies in part on Intel’s foundry business, which manufactures chips under contract.

Zinsner said Intel expected negative cash flow for 2026 while expanding manufacturing capacity. Annual capital spending remained on track at $20 billion, and he expected it to rise sharply in 2027 as Intel acquired more chipmaking tools.

Zinsner also said costs for Intel’s 18A manufacturing technology had fallen 40% since the first quarter. He expected those lower costs to help profit margins over the longer term.