The Comeback Kid? Where Will Intel Be in 1 Year?

Rocky is simply a classical movie and 1 of my all-time favorites. Sylvester Stallone and Carl Weathers are large successful it, and the soundtrack is legendary. Plus, who doesn't emotion a bully underdog story?

Well, a fewer months ago, I wasn't truthful definite Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) had a Rocky-style comeback successful it. I thought, with a precocious grade of certainty, that it was an over-the-hill institution doomed to suffer its rubric to its younger and much innovative competitors.

Will AI make the world's archetypal trillionaire? Our squad conscionable released a study connected the 1 little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the captious exertion Nvidia and Intel some need. Continue »

But, successful airy of the company's first-quarter 2026 results, I deliberation I mightiness person been wrong. This aged canine inactive has immoderate combat successful it yet.

Intel didn't perceive nary doorbell

The halfway of Intel's concern has historically been spot plan and manufacturing. It utilized to beryllium Apple's go-to spot producer, but it mislaid that declaration successful 2020 and since then, its gross had been connected a diminution and its margins person been shrinking.

And portion the company's nett borderline is inactive negative, its gross borderline is up somewhat from wherever it was astatine the extremity of 2025, and the company's gross appears to beryllium connected the mend.

Intel's gross for the 4th ended March 28 totaled $13.6 billion, up 7.2% twelvemonth implicit twelvemonth and $1.4 cardinal implicit the company's anterior outlook.

Its gross borderline for the 4th was 41%, up 1.8 points twelvemonth implicit twelvemonth and 6.5 points supra the outlook.

Finally, Intel's net per stock (EPS) was $0.29, up $0.16 twelvemonth implicit twelvemonth and overmuch amended than its projection to conscionable interruption even.

The bulk of that gross maturation seems to person travel from the company's data-centric artificial quality (AI) segment, which grew 22% implicit Q1 2025, and the company's foundry segment, which was up 20% sequentially.

The counterpuncher

That's successful enactment with Intel's pivot toward being a semiconductor foundry institution for different companies. More similar a Broadcom or Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing than what it has been successful the past.

On April 8, Intel signed a multibillion-dollar declaration to nutrient Amazon's customized AI chips, and that caused Intel's shares to ascent much than 3% erstwhile the quality broke. According to IDN Financials, Intel is besides successful talks to bash the aforesaid happening for Alphabet, Google's genitor company.

In addition, Intel is presently progressive successful a $100 cardinal program to physique much spot factories successful the United States. It's apt wherefore the U.S. authorities bought $8.9 cardinal worthy of Intel banal past August.