After years of selling the idea of a comeback, Intel $INTC finally sold something else: chips. The company’s third-quarter results showed real growth for the first time in recent memory, though credibility remains its most elusive product.
Better margins, rising PC sales, and a lighter cost structure gave Intel its strongest earnings in years Now, it has to catch up to the world it created
Kabir Jhangiani/NurPhoto via Getty Images
After years of selling the idea of a comeback, Intel $INTC finally sold something else: chips. The company’s third-quarter results showed real growth for the first time in recent memory, though credibility remains its most elusive product.
Intel reported $13.7 billion in revenue for the quarter, a 3% increase from a year ago and ahead of Wall Street’s expectations. Gross margin improved to about 40%, up sharply from last year’s 18%, while net income returned to the black with $4.1 billion in profit after a steep loss a year earlier. Investors rewarded the results, pushing the stock almost 8% higher in after-hours trading.
Growth was steadier than spectacular: PC-chip revenue rose 5% to $8.5 billion, the data-center and AI business slipped 1% to $4.1 billion, and Intel Foundry posted $4.2 billion, down 2%.
Behind the numbers seems to lie a company that’s finally showing discipline. Under CEO Lip-Bu Tan, Intel has been trimming costs, slowing its once-frantic factory expansion, and narrowing its focus to businesses that can still deliver returns. Management says the workforce will be more than 20% smaller than last year, part of a multiyear $10 billion cost-reduction plan.
Recent investments from the U.S. government, SoftBank, and Nvidia $NVDA have bolstered both cash flow and confidence — the kind of outside validation that Intel’s comeback story has been missing. The money from SoftBank has already hit the balance sheet, while Nvidia’s $5 billion equity investment has been announced but not yet funded. The company also became a political trophy this year: An $8.9 billion federal investment under President Donald Trump’s industrial policy gave Washington an almost 10% stake in Intel.
Still, the recovery is far from complete. Intel guided fourth-quarter revenue between $12.8 billion and $13.8 billion, flat to slightly down versus Q3, suggesting cautious expectations for year-end demand. And while PC-chip demand is showing signs of life thanks to a Windows refresh cycle and AI tailwinds, the company remains a distant contender in AI accelerators and advanced manufacturing — the very sectors that are driving the chip industry’s next boom.
Intel proved this quarter that it can execute. What it hasn’t proved yet is that it can lead. The company has found stability, but its future will depend on whether that steadiness translates into relevance in the era it helped create.
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