intel announced better-than-expected second-quarter results Thursday, posting the highest revenue growth rate in a quarter since 2011, and issued better-than-expected guidance. Shares rose 11% in after-hours trading.
Here’s a comparison of the chipmaker’s performance and LSEG’s consensus estimates:
Earnings per share: Adjusted 42 cents vs. expected 21 cents Earnings: $16.1 billion vs. expected $14.42 billion
Intel shares are up more than 170% so far in 2026 as of Thursday’s close, after soaring 84% last year when the U.S. government took a 10% stake in the company as part of its support for U.S. chip manufacturing. However, the stock has been underperforming recently, dropping 28% in July.
Despite the recent economic downturn, the company is benefiting from the artificial intelligence infrastructure boom, boosting sales of server processors. Intel’s 25% revenue growth was the fastest in any quarter since the third quarter of 2011.
“AI is driving unprecedented demand for computing,” CEO Lip Vu Tan said in a statement. “As we continue to execute, Intel is well-positioned to capture sustainable growth across our CPU franchise.”
For the current quarter, Intel said it expects adjusted earnings per share to be 38 cents on revenue between $15.8 billion and $16.8 billion. Analysts had expected revenue of $15.1 billion and EPS of 27 cents, according to LSEG.
Intel CEO Lip Buu Tan attends the annual Computex trade show on June 2, 2026 in Taipei, Taiwan.
Cai Xinhan | Reuters
Intel also said it has begun signing long-term contracts with customers for server CPUs, some with fixed prices and others focused on chip volume.
This is a move that is becoming more common, especially in the memory space, as vendors seek to maintain their current high pricing and market power in case the AI market turns around. Intel said it has reached 10 long-term contracts, and Zinsner said the company is supply constrained because data center customers are demanding more than it can produce.
Sales at the company’s client computing group, which makes PC chips, rose 13% to $8.9 billion. Although the company remains Intel’s largest division, strong growth has come from its data center business, where sales rose 59% to $6.3 billion. Intel said it expects PC sales to be flat in the third quarter due to memory shortages.
As Intel actively seeks to transform itself into a maker of chips for other companies, it is stepping up capital investment with the goal of “meaningful growth” next year. CFO David Zinsner told CNBC’s Cristina Persineveros that the company’s latest manufacturing process, called 14A, is more advanced than older technology at the same point in the cycle. Intel said its foundries reported annual sales of $5.8 billion, up 31%.
Still, Intel is not disclosing the foundry’s major customers as investors and potential customers continue to wait. The company mainly manufactures its own chips. Earlier this week, Intel’s foundry acquired Fortinet as its first named customer under Mr. Tan, but the company uses older manufacturing technology to make security chips.
Intel’s gross profit margin also rebounded to 42% from 2.5% a year earlier, and the company attributed this to the ability to sell chips at higher margins and prices, as well as economies of scale due to increased revenue.
Featured: Bernstein’s Stacey Rasgon talks about Intel
