Intel stock falls nearly 8% despite big Q2 earnings beat
Daniel Howley· Technology Editor
Updated Sat, July 25, 2026 at 2:38 AM GMT+5:30
3 min read
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Intel (INTC) stock fell almost 8% on Friday after posting blowout Q2 earnings after the bell on Thursday, blowing past Wall Street’s expectations on both the top and bottom lines and topping third quarter guidance estimates
In after-hours trading on Thursday, the stock popped nearly 13% post-earnings. But the stock pared those gains on Friday as investors digested Intel’s ballooning capital expenditures estimates. The company plans to spend more than $20 billion in 2026, up from about $18 billion, to meet high demand for its products
“We delivered a strong second quarter, exceeding our financial guidance on robust demand and improved execution, including volume upside driven by higher factory yields and improved cycle times,” Intel CFO Dave Zinsner said in a statement
“AI-driven compute continues to strengthen, and to support expected growth this year and next across products and foundry, we are meaningfully increasing our investments in equipment, clean room space, and substrates.”
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For the quarter, Intel saw earnings per share of $0.38 on revenue of $16.1 billion. Wall Street was anticipating EPS of $0.21 on revenue of $14.43 billion
The company also said it is projecting Q3 revenue of between $15.8 billion and $16.8 billion, well ahead of the $15.06 billion estimate
Q2 data center revenue topped out at $6.3 billion, versus analysts’ estimates of $5.54 billion. Client computing revenue was $8.9 billion. Projections called for $7.99 billion
Earlier this week, Intel confirmed it will lay off employees in its data center business, sending shares higher
“As part of our broader strategy to become a more focused and efficient company, Intel’s Data Center Group (DCG) is aligning its organization to ensure it has the right roles and skills in place to position the business for long-term success,” an Intel spokesperson told Yahoo Finance
“We are committed to treating all impacted employees with respect and providing re
Intel stock has rocketed since the start of the year, rising 178% as CEO Lip-Bu Tan continues an aggressive turnaround effort. The company has also benefited from investments by the Trump administration and Nvidia (NVDA), as well as an increased emphasis on central processing units (CPUs) as the tech industry turns toward AI agents.
Intel has also benefited from reports that its foundry business is beginning to sign on big-name customers. According to The Information, Google (GOOG, GOOGL) has placed an order with Intel to produce 3 million of its custom Tensor Processing Units
