Intel on October 29, 2026 at 4:01 p.m. EDT reported third-quarter 2026 results and issued fourth-quarter guidance that missed Wall Street expectations. Q3 revenue was $16.5 billion (+21% year over year). Q4 revenue guidance of $15.0–$16.0 billion and lower margins drove a sharp sell-off on October 30, with secondary reports putting the Friday close near a 28–29% drop.

Key Facts

Metric Figure
Q3 revenue $16.5 billion (+21% YoY; exact $16,513M vs $13,653M)
GAAP EPS (diluted) $0.60
Non-GAAP EPS $0.52
GAAP gross margin 43.0%
Non-GAAP gross margin 44.1%
CCPG (Client Computing and Physical AI) $8.1 billion (−5% YoY)
DCAI (Data Center and AI) $7.3 billion (+78% YoY)
Foundry $6.7 billion (+58% YoY)
Q3 operating cash flow $5.1 billion
Q4 revenue outlook $15.0–$16.0 billion
Q4 GAAP EPS outlook $0.10
Q4 non-GAAP EPS outlook $0.25
Q4 GAAP / non-GAAP gross margin outlook 37.1% / 38.0% (margins and EPS at midpoint of revenue range)

CFO David Zinsner said in the release that the PC slowdown continues at least through the first half of next year, and that Intel will keep making disciplined investments in capacity and working capital. CEO Lip-Bu Tan said near-term PC-industry headwinds remain, but long-term CPU demand looks robust, with an immediate priority of unlocking more Xeon supply.

Background

Intel's Investor Relations release (Oct 29, 2026, 4:01 p.m. EDT) is the primary source for the figures above. Product revenue was led by DCAI growth of 78%, while CCPG fell 5%. Foundry rose 58%. Operating cash flow in the quarter was $5.1 billion. The company also noted a completed $23 billion public equity offering among other items.

CNBC (Oct 29) reported that LSEG consensus had expected about $17.1 billion of Q4 revenue and $0.43 of EPS, versus Intel's $15.0–$16.0 billion and $0.25 non-GAAP EPS guide. CNBC also said shares fell more than 20% in extended trading after the print. TechCrunch (Oct 30) put Friday's crash around 28% and, citing CNBC, said the U.S. government's stake lost about $12 billion of paper value. Yahoo Finance (Oct 30) reported a Friday close of about $65.76 (−29% from a prior close of $92.07), with the government's roughly 9.9% stake (433.3 million shares bought at $20.47) falling from about $39.9 billion to about $28.5 billion on paper, a drop of more than $11 billion. Yahoo also said company market value at points on Friday had erased nearly $150 billion.

TechCrunch attributed to CEO Tan on the earnings call a comment that customers began signaling a PC slowdown based on memory prices and availability. That call attribution is from TechCrunch, not from the IR press release text.

Reactions and Impact

Secondary outlets framed the stock move as one of Intel's worst single-day declines in years, driven by the Q4 guide miss versus consensus and the PC softness signal. Government paper losses in the high teens of billions of dollars (TechCrunch ~$12B; Yahoo >$11B) were reported as mark-to-market on the existing stake, not as a cash sale. DCAI's 78% growth was widely noted as the bright spot inside the same quarter that guided softer.

What We Don't Know Yet

  • Exact path of PC unit and ASP recovery after the first half of 2027 (management said the slowdown lasts at least through H1 next year)
  • How much of Q4 margin compression is mix, pricing, or capacity-related beyond the stated guide
  • Timing and names of external foundry customers Tan has discussed on calls (not detailed in the IR release numbers table)
  • Whether Friday's close levels hold after subsequent sessions

Sources