Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, holding the “Gaudi 3” AI chip, speaks during the 54th Annual Meeting of The Semafor 2024 World Economy Summit in Washington, DC, on April 17, 2024.
Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images
Intel reported first-quarter earnings on Thursday that beat Wall Street expectations for earnings per share, but came up light in sales. Intel gave a weak forecast for the current quarter.
The stock fell over 7% in extended trading.
Here’s how Intel did versus LSEG consensus expectations for the quarter ending in March:
- Earnings per share: 18 cents adjusted vs. 14 cents expected
- Revenue: $12.72 billion vs. $12.78 billion expected
For the second quarter, Intel expects earnings of 10 cents per share on revenue of $13 billion at the midpoint. That forecast compares to analysts’ expected earnings per share of 25 cents, on $13.57 billion in sales.
In the first quarter, Intel reported a net loss of $400 million, or 9 cents per share, versus a net loss of $2.8 billion, or 66 cents per share, last year.
Revenue was $12.7 billion versus $11.7 billion a year ago, a 9% year-over-year increase.
Intel’s report was the first since the company revealed that it had restructured its financial reports to make its chip manufacturing business, called Intel Foundry, a separate line item with its own costs and sales.
Intel’s Foundry business reported $4.4 billion in revenue during the quarter, which was down 10% year-over-year, the company said. The unit reported a $2.5 billion operating loss during the March quarter. Intel said last month that it had reported a $7 billion operating loss in its foundry in 2023.
Intel’s biggest business remains the chips it makes for PCs and laptops, which is reported as Client Computing sales. Those chip sales totalled $7.5 billion, up 31% on an annual basis.
Intel also makes central processors for servers, as well as other parts and software, which are reported in its Data Center and AI business. That line saw sales rise 5% to $3 billion, even as Intel continues to fight for server dollars against AI chips made by companies like Nvidia.
Earlier this month, Intel said that it would release a new AI processor for servers called Gaudi 3, intended to compete against Nvidia’s popular GPUs, although it won’t ship until later this year. Intel said it expected more than $500 million in sales from its Gaudi 3 chips in the second half of the year.