Intel (INTC)

Intel (INTC) designs the x86 CPUs in PCs and AI servers and runs Intel Foundry, the only US-headquartered leading-edge chip manufacturer. Backed by a 9.9% US government stake and a $5 billion NVIDIA investment, it reported Q1 2026 revenue of $13.6 billion, up 7%, beating its own guidance for a sixth straight quarter.

What does Intel do?

Intel runs two businesses under one roof. Intel Products designs and sells x86 processors: the Client Computing Group earned $7.7 billion in Q1 2026 from PC chips, and Data Center and AI earned $5.1 billion, up 22%, from the Xeon server CPUs that host AI accelerators (Intel 8-K, Apr 23, 2026). Intel Foundry, with $5.4 billion of Q1 revenue, up 16%, manufactures chips both for Intel itself and for external customers, and is the only leading-edge logic fab network headquartered in the United States. The Intel 18A process node reached mainstream products in early 2026 with the Core Series 3 family, the proof point the foundry strategy had been waiting on.

How is AI driving Intel’s business?

Less through accelerators than through everything around them. Every AI server still needs a host CPU, and Intel’s Xeon 6 was selected as the host processor for NVIDIA’s DGX Rubin NVL8 systems (Intel 8-K, Apr 23, 2026). Intel and Google announced a multiyear collaboration spanning Xeon deployments across Google’s cloud instances and co-development of custom ASIC infrastructure processing units. The deeper AI angle is manufacturing: as hyperscalers and chip designers look for capacity outside Asia, Intel’s fabs and advanced packaging become strategic. CEO Lip-Bu Tan put it this way with the Q1 results:

“The next wave of AI will bring intelligence closer to the end user, moving from foundational models to inference to agentic. This shift is significantly increasing the need for Intel’s CPUs and wafer and advanced packaging offerings.”

— Lip-Bu Tan, CEO, Intel (Intel 8-K, Apr 23, 2026)

Why do the US government and NVIDIA own stakes in Intel?

Because Intel’s turnaround became a matter of industrial policy and supply-chain strategy. On August 22, 2025 Intel agreed with the Trump Administration on an $8.9 billion investment in Intel common stock, 433.3 million shares at $20.47 per share, a 9.9% stake funded from remaining CHIPS Act grants and the Secure Enclave program (Intel 8-K, Aug 22, 2025). The stake is passive, with no board representation, plus a five-year warrant for an additional 5% that can only be exercised if Intel loses majority control of its foundry business. Weeks later, on September 18, 2025, NVIDIA agreed to invest $5 billion in Intel stock at $23.28 per share, alongside a plan to co-develop multiple generations of products in which Intel builds NVIDIA-custom x86 CPUs for AI infrastructure (NVIDIA, Sep 18, 2025).

What did Intel report most recently?

In Q1 2026 (the quarter ended March 28, 2026), Intel posted revenue of $13.6 billion, up 7% year over year and about $1.4 billion above the midpoint of its own guidance, its sixth consecutive beat (Intel 8-K, Apr 23, 2026). Non-GAAP EPS was $0.29, up 123%; the GAAP loss of $0.73 per share reflects charges that the non-GAAP figure excludes. Non-GAAP gross margin was 41.0%, up 1.8 points. The company generated $1.1 billion of cash from operations and repurchased the 49% minority interest in its Fab 34 joint venture in Ireland. Note that year-over-year comparisons are affected by the deconsolidation of Altera in September 2025.

What is Intel’s guidance?

For Q2 2026, Intel guided revenue to $13.8-14.8 billion, GAAP EPS of $0.08, and non-GAAP EPS of $0.20, with a non-GAAP gross margin of 39.0% (Intel 8-K, Apr 23, 2026). CFO David Zinsner said the company remains “focused on maximizing our factory network to improve available supply and meet our customers’ needs throughout the year,” pointing to demand for silicon that currently exceeds what Intel can ship.

What are the risks for Intel?

• Execution on 18A and beyond. The foundry thesis depends on Intel hitting process-node milestones on schedule; slips would push external customers back to TSMC.
• GAAP losses. Intel is still loss-making on a GAAP basis ($(0.73) EPS in Q1 2026) while funding one of the world’s largest capex programs.
• Political entanglement. A 9.9% government stake aligns Washington with Intel’s success but ties strategy, and possibly customer relationships, to policy cycles (Intel 8-K).
• Accelerator gap. Intel lacks a high-volume AI accelerator of its own, so its AI exposure runs through host CPUs, packaging, and foundry rather than the fastest-growing chip category.

Related securities, concepts & terms

Intel is a representative company of the US AI semiconductor concept, the US-listed supply side of the AI build-out.

• US AI Semiconductorparent
• NVIDIA (NVDA)sibling
• AMD (AMD)sibling
• Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM)sibling
• AI acceleratorrelated

Related indices & ETFs

• KODEX US AI Semiconductor TOP3 Plus ETF (0151S0) · Samsung Asset Management
  Korea-listed ETF (January 13, 2026) tracking the Akros US AI semiconductor index; Intel is a constituent of the concept.
• Akros U.S. AI Semiconductor Top 3 Plus Index (AUAIST3P) · Akros Technologies, Inc.
  The Akros index that frames the US AI semiconductor concept and the benchmark the KODEX ETF tracks.

These references describe index-tracking relationships as a matter of fact and are not a recommendation to buy any product. Akros, as the index provider, may receive licensing fees from product sponsors. Review the product's prospectus before investing.

Frequently asked questions about Intel

Sources & references

1. Intel Reports First-Quarter 2026 Financial Results (SEC 8-K, Exhibit 99.1) · Intel Corporation / SEC EDGAR, 2026-04-23
2. Intel Announces Agreement with the Trump Administration: $8.9 Billion Investment in Intel Common Stock (SEC 8-K, Exhibit 99.1) · Intel Corporation / SEC EDGAR, 2025-08-22
3. NVIDIA and Intel to Develop AI Infrastructure and Personal Computing Products · NVIDIA Corporation (Newsroom), 2025-09-18
4. Intel Corporation · investor relations and financial results · Intel Corporation, 2026-06-10