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Intel Corporation

Intel Corporation (INTC)

22.59
0.33
(1.48%)
Closed October 06 3:00PM
22.5309
-0.0591
(-0.26%)
After Hours: 6:59PM

Your Hub for Real-Time streaming quotes, Ideas and Live Discussions

Key stats and details

Current Price
22.5309
Bid
22.31
Ask
22.63
Volume
48,151,708
22.30 Day's Range 22.908
18.51 52 Week Range 51.26
Market Cap
Previous Close
22.26
Open
22.70
Last Trade Time
Financial Volume
US$ 1,083,828,883
VWAP
22.5086
Average Volume (3m)
86,286,763
Shares Outstanding
4,276,000,000
Dividend Yield
2.22%
PE Ratio
57.19
Earnings Per Share (EPS)
0.4
Revenue
54.56B
Net Profit
1.69B

About Intel Corporation

Intel is the world's largest logic chipmaker. It designs and manufactures microprocessors for the global personal computer and data center markets. Intel pioneered the x86 architecture for microprocessors. It was the prime proponent of Moore's law for advances in semiconductor manufacturing, though ... Intel is the world's largest logic chipmaker. It designs and manufactures microprocessors for the global personal computer and data center markets. Intel pioneered the x86 architecture for microprocessors. It was the prime proponent of Moore's law for advances in semiconductor manufacturing, though the firm has recently faced manufacturing delays. While Intel's server processor business has benefited from the shift to the cloud, the firm has also been expanding into new adjacencies as the personal computer market has stagnated. These include areas such as the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and automotive. Intel has been active on the merger and acquisitions front, acquiring Altera, Mobileye, and Habana Labs in order to bolster these efforts in non-PC arenas. Show more

Sector
Semiconductor,related Device
Industry
Semiconductor,related Device
Website
Headquarters
Wilmington, Delaware, USA
Founded
-
Intel Corporation is listed in the Semiconductor,related Device sector of the NASDAQ with ticker INTC. The last closing price for Intel was US$22.26. Over the last year, Intel shares have traded in a share price range of US$ 18.51 to US$ 51.26.

Intel currently has 4,276,000,000 shares outstanding. The market capitalization of Intel is US$95.18 billion. Intel has a price to earnings ratio (PE ratio) of 57.19.

Intel (INTC) Options Flow Summary

Overall Flow

Bearish

Net Premium

-43M

Calls / Puts

103.31%

Buys / Sells

82.58%

OTM / ITM

73.45%

Sweeps Ratio

0.98%

INTC Latest News

Intel Unveils Next-Generation AI Solutions with the Launch of Xeon 6 and Gaudi 3

Intel enables a new era of high-performance enterprise AI systems and solutions. NEWS HIGHLIGHTS Intel launches Xeon 6 with Performance-cores (P-cores), doubling the performance for AI and HPC...

U.S. Stocks May See Further Upside In Early Trading

The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a slightly higher open on Tuesday, with stocks likely to add to the modest gains posted in the previous session. Strength in overseas...

U.S. Index Futures Rise Slightly; Oil Prices Surge Amid China Stimulus and Gulf of Mexico Hurricane

U.S. index futures rose slightly in pre-market trading on Tuesday after the S&P 500 and Dow Jones hit new closing records. At 5:19 AM, Dow Jones futures (DOWI:DJI) were up 78 points, or...

Apollo Eyes $5 Billion Investment in Intel; TSMC and Samsung Explore UAE Chip Projects, and More

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO), Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) – Apollo Global Management has reportedly offered up to $5 billion to invest in Intel, according to Bloomberg. The...

Flapmax Expands Collaboration with Intel to Launch Quantum AI Challenge

Flapmax Expands Collaboration with Intel to Launch Quantum AI Challenge PR Newswire WASHINGTON, Sept. 20, 2024 Collaboration to Catalyze Innovation in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Quantum...

Remark AI Successfully Optimized on Intel Architecture

Remark AI Successfully Optimized on Intel Architecture PR Newswire LAS VEGAS, Sept. 17, 2024 LAS VEGAS, Sept. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Remark Holdings, Inc. (OTCQX: MARK), a leading provider of...

PeriodChangeChange %OpenHighLowAvg. Daily VolVWAP
1-1.6291-6.7429635761624.1624.6621.65086929133523.02618127CS
43.090915.89969135819.4424.6618.5110279234621.67162763CS
12-11.2491-33.301065719433.7837.1618.518628676323.00432081CS
26-18.0791-44.518837724740.6140.779818.516636997626.76668205CS
52-13.9891-38.305312157736.5251.2618.515433228433.00865676CS
156-31.3991-58.221954385353.9356.2818.514442345735.21922791CS
260-27.8591-55.286961698750.3969.2718.513786083041.23800234CS

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INTC Discussion

View Posts
JJ8 JJ8 6 days ago
Intel share price has been on Ascending Triple Top Breakout since 25-Sep-2024.

How long Intel will be on this bullish path is the question at this time.

We shall see. GLTA
👍️0
Longer Than Most Longer Than Most 1 week ago
Looking really good. Glad I averaged down instead of sold $INTC
👍️ 1
Klinsmann Klinsmann 1 week ago
I just add and hold
👍️0
Nighthawk_1 Nighthawk_1 1 week ago
The Yearly Net has come down significantly. I'll wait and see.
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TechandBio TechandBio 1 week ago
When I saw all the negative news on INTC under 20.00 I loaded calls for mid next year up 125% already.

The new gaming chips will be a great addition Intel!

Next will get a new likeable seasoned CEO which will be a big catalyst!

$INTC
👍️0
koolmc koolmc 2 weeks ago
Yeah will be regulatory issues if Qualcomm announce official takeover but I am sure their "lawyers" are working on it
👍️0
ShawnyD ShawnyD 2 weeks ago
Wonder if the US gov would allow it like US steel selling off to Japan?
👍️0
koolmc koolmc 2 weeks ago
yep we will see soon enough if it all goes through gonna be a good one.
👍️0
mick mick 2 weeks ago
Apollo Eyes $5 Billion Investment in Intel; TSMC and Samsung Explore UAE Chip Projects, and More
👍️0
mick mick 2 weeks ago
looks promising $intel
👍️ 1
Klinsmann Klinsmann 2 weeks ago
Just buy, maybe add on lows, and HOLD
👍️0
MonkDomain94 MonkDomain94 2 weeks ago
Retailer are selling but institutional funds are buying
👍️0
Bull_Dolphin Bull_Dolphin 2 weeks ago
On Fidelty this morning:

Factbox-Qualcomm's potential bid for Intel turns the spotlight on their products
REUTERS 7:18 AM ET 9/24/2024
Symbol Last Price Change
QCOM 165.96down 0 (0%)
INTC 22.56down 0 (0%)
TSM 174.76up 0 (0%)
MBLY 13.35up 0 (0%)
QUOTES AS OF 04:00:00 PM ET 09/23/2024
(Reuters) - Qualcomm(QCOM) has approached the once-dominant chipmaker Intel(INTC) for a potential buyout, turning the spotlight on the portfolio of products these chip companies have to offer.

A deal would unite Qualcomm's(QCOM) mobile-focused Snapdragon line with Intel's(INTC) dominant PC and server chip divisions, creating a semiconductor powerhouse.

Here are some of the areas where Qualcomm(QCOM) and Intel's(INTC) product lines would come together:

PROCESSORS

Intel (INTC) dominates the PC processor market with its Core series, which is widely used in desktops and laptops, while its Xeon series chips, designed to handle demanding workloads, are extensively used in servers and workstations.

Qualcomm (QCOM) is a leader in mobile chips, producing Snapdragon processors that are widely used in smartphones and tablets.

Intel (INTC) also produces Atom processors for low-power devices, while Qualcomm(QCOM) has been expanding into laptop processors with its own compute platforms.

MANUFACTURING

Intel (INTC) fabricates its chips in-house at company-owned facilities called "fabs," located in various parts of the world.

Qualcomm (QCOM) does not make its own processors but has partnered with contract manufacturers like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co(TSM) and Samsung Foundry for chip production.

CHIP ARCHITECTURE

Intel (INTC) primarily uses the x86 computing architecture, which is standard in desktops, laptops, and servers.

Qualcomm (QCOM) relies on Arm Holdings' processor architecture, which powers smartphones and targets low power consumption. Computer code built for x86 chips will not automatically run on Arm-based designs.

Intel (INTC) has previously explored developing Arm-based chips, and software solutions are available to facilitate some compatibility between x86 and Arm architectures.

AUTOMOTIVE BUSINESS

Qualcomm (QCOM) also has a growing automotive business, focusing on technologies like connected cars, infotainment systems, and advanced driver-assistance systems.

Intel's (INTC) chips are used in vehicles, powering infotainment systems, digital instrument clusters, and more. The company's advanced chips for cars support AI features like generative AI and camera systems that monitor drivers and passengers.

Intel (INTC) also owns a majority stake in Mobileye Global(MBLY) and recently confirmed that it would not divest its majority stake in the self-driving tech firm.


(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese and Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)
👍️0
trades2win trades2win 2 weeks ago
intc $25 calls @ .29 10/04 LFG 📈🚀🚀🚀🐺 capital QCOM /Apollo 💵💵💵💵
👍️0
aBeezlee aBeezlee 2 weeks ago
AVGO has money to burn, could outbid QCOM or whoever else. Maybe Jensen is thinking about it as well.

Edit: Also this news.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-09-22/apollo-is-said-to-offer-multibillion-dollar-investment-in-intel
👍️0
koolmc koolmc 2 weeks ago
would be nice but are they willing to pay double the price from here?
👍️0
aBeezlee aBeezlee 2 weeks ago
Acquisition -> $40-50? 🤔
👍️0
koolmc koolmc 2 weeks ago
the real pop will be when it actually goes through, it can easily fall apart.
👍️0
Lokotony Lokotony 2 weeks ago
This should be over 10% today. I cannot believe how the controllers of this market hold certain stuff down. Keep it low until something bad, like antitrust bs, comes out and runs it back down. It has been destroyed enough in the last 3 months!
👍️0
koolmc koolmc 2 weeks ago
possible if markets cooperate.
👍️ 1
aBeezlee aBeezlee 2 weeks ago
$24 EOW?
👍️0
OmegaMoney29 OmegaMoney29 2 weeks ago
Apollo 5 billion, looks like a squeeze at some point
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TechandBio TechandBio 2 weeks ago
QCOM Take over for Intel?
$INTC
👍️0
aBeezlee aBeezlee 2 weeks ago
So the rumor will bring FOMO this week? Surely the news has made its rounds online. :)
👍️0
Yukii Yukii 2 weeks ago
Don’t forget Broadcom is considering bidding also. Who knows who else comes out the wood work with a bid also. It might get pretty crazy the next few weeks
👍️0
koolmc koolmc 2 weeks ago
wonder how much premium qualcomm willing to pay for intc shares
👍️0
JJ8 JJ8 2 weeks ago
On technical front, Intel share price had an Ascending Triple Top Breakout today on 20-Sep-2024.

UPDATE 6-Qualcomm approached Intel about a takeover in recent days, WSJ reports
17:31:36 PM ET, 09/20/2024 - Reuters
(New throughout, adds background on Intel's recent challenges and steps)

Sept 20 (Reuters) -

Qualcomm made a takeover approach to chipmaker Intel in recent days, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Intel's shares closed up 3.3%, while Qualcomm fell 2.9%. Qualcomm, with a market capitalization of $188 billion, is worth about twice as much as Intel.

An acquisition would put Qualcomm, known for its cell phone chips, in charge of a storied Silicon Valley business that created the guts of the modern PC but has been struggling to make the switch to chips that support AI.

Earlier this month, Reuters reported that Qualcomm explored the possibility of acquiring portions of Intel's design business and that its PC design unit was of particular interest.


PS: Today's volume was heavier than usual, trading 260,377,912 shares, versus an average of 52,297,501 shares per day during the last twelve months. The On Balance Volume indicator (OBV) shows that longer term selling pressure has given way to near term accumulation by traders as of 4:15 PM ET Friday, 09/20/2024
👍️ 1
Longer Than Most Longer Than Most 2 weeks ago
Intc wants it
👍️0
Greedy G Greedy G 2 weeks ago
~yeah I see that. Sold a little too soon maybe. Oh well on to the next.
👍️0
Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar 2 weeks ago
QCOM down $5 INTC up $1.25

interesting to say the least

how likely is it? who knows
👍️0
Greedy G Greedy G 2 weeks ago
~dang I just sold these before the news!
👍️0
koolmc koolmc 2 weeks ago
a change in leadership would give it a boost wouldn't be surprised if they the board is looking for one.
👍️0
JJ8 JJ8 2 weeks ago
Thanks for your informative post, friend.

Cheers & GLTY
👍️0
littlejohn littlejohn 2 weeks ago
INTC has gap down from $29 on 08/02

open after the 08/01 close...

Around $28.9 for those looking closer...

It needs to fill to help the long

term holder's positions...

https://www.barchart.com/stocks/quotes/INTC/interactive-chart/new

Good traders can make .13/share daily

trading this so losing .13/share dividend

quarterly isn't the big hurdle...

Good for bear fodder chat though...

Added a little Wednesday after starter

nibble on Tuesday...

plenty to nibble for many...


so we watch...LJ
👍️0
lvhd lvhd 2 weeks ago
Intel is a great company and way undervalued. I am long too. GL
👍️0
JJ8 JJ8 3 weeks ago
No problem for me. Not thinking of selling shares of intc soon.

Not a day trader. Not a short term speculator. That's not my span of interest at all.

GLTA whatever they're doing and make it to mostly end up in profits, at the bottom line.

Whoever is thinking in the very short term and let it impact their decision usually is not a good thing in the stock market.

Hope you're doing fine.

Cheers & GLTY
👍️0
lvhd lvhd 3 weeks ago
In 20.80
👍️0
JJ8 JJ8 3 weeks ago
Day order to buy at $21.45 filled. GLTA

PS: Adding more shares in my Port today significantly reduced my average cost per share.
👍️0
x993231 x993231 3 weeks ago
IMO, if the government gets involved, it is not a long bump. Good luck, though.

X

👍️0
Greedy G Greedy G 3 weeks ago
~bought 9/27 $27 calls @.05c
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koolmc koolmc 3 weeks ago
broke 22's and now see if it holds then go time.
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Longer Than Most Longer Than Most 3 weeks ago
Why do they wait until after market to release this. Just do it during market hours and stop gapping this up. They always want to close gaps. Stupid
👍️0
Bull_Dolphin Bull_Dolphin 3 weeks ago
posted on Fidelity:

Remark AI Successfully Optimized on Intel Architecture
PR NEWSWIRE 9:00 AM ET 9/17/2024
Symbol Last Price Change
MARK 0.086down 0 (0%)
INTC 20.91down 0 (0%)
QUOTES AS OF 12:00:00 AM ET 09/16/2024
LAS VEGAS , Sept. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Remark Holdings, Inc.(MARK) , a leading provider of AI-powered computer vision analytics, smart city, and smart agent solutions and a member of the Intel Partner Alliance , today announced that Remark AI's Smart Safety Platform (SSP) has been successfully optimized for the Intel Architecture.

Introduction to the Smart Safety Platform
Remark AI's Smart Safety Platform (SSP) is a cutting-edge artificial intelligence solution designed to meet the evolving needs of businesses across various industries. By harnessing the power of AI, Remark AI's Smart Safety Platform offers unparalleled efficiency, accuracy, and scalability, enabling organizations to drive innovation and achieve competitive advantages. Key features of the platform include AI-driven video analytics, customizable real-time alerts and notifications, and scalable integration with existing infrastructure, each tailored to enhance operational workflows, data analysis, and decision-making processes.

Optimization on Intel Architecture

To maximize performance and efficiency, Remark AI's Smart Safety Platform has been meticulously optimized for Intel Architecture, leveraging the advanced capabilities of OpenVINO. This optimization ensures that Remark AI's SSP fully utilizes the underlying hardware, resulting in faster processing times, reduced latency, and increased throughput for AI workloads.

The optimization process involved utilizing OpenVINO, which was applied to critical components of the Smart Safety Platform. These enhancements allow the solution to take full advantage of Intel's(INTC) powerful CPUs, and GPUs, making Remark's platform not only more efficient but also more versatile across different deployment scenarios.

Remark AI's Smart Safety Platform has been optimized on the 4th Gen Xeon scalable process with flex 140 GPU, which is renowned for its robust performance and reliability. The 4th Gen Xeon and flex GPU supports an extensive ecosystem of tools and libraries that further streamline the development and deployment of AI solutions, making it an ideal choice for Smart Safety Platform.
👍️0
JJ8 JJ8 3 weeks ago
Intel receives some much-needed good news as it reportedly wins new military contract
10:51:56 AM ET, 09/16/2024 - Briefing.com

Badly in need of a win amid a dreadful 2024 that has seen its stock plummet by about 60%, some positive news has finally emerged for beleaguered chip company Intel (INTC). Last Friday night, Bloomberg reported that INTC is in line to secure up to $3.5 bln in federal grants through The Pentagon's "Secure Enclave" initiative, which was created to help lessen the military's dependence on foreign chip manufacturers. By no means is this a game-changer for INTC that wipes the slate clean of all its troubles, but the new military contract is still a welcomed development that should provide its top-line and cash flow with a much-needed boost.

In terms of selecting a domestic chip maker for the Secret Enclave program, the government's options are quite limited. Up to 90% of the world's advanced semiconductors are manufactured in Taiwan -- the bulk of which are produced by Taiwan Semi Manufacturing (TSM) -- and INTC is one of the few, if not the only, chip manufacturer with the scale to meet the government's needs.This positioning has significantly benefitted INTC as the company has already racked up $8.5 bln in federal grants and $11.0 bln in loans through the CHIPS Act in support of its foundry expansion plans. However, INTC still faces a massive funding deficit given that it will need over $100.0 bln in capital over the coming decade to help construct new factories in Arizona, Ohio, New Mexico, Oregon, and abroad.Considering INTC's deep struggles and data center market share losses at the hands of NVIDIA (NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), there is an even greater sense of urgency for the company to shore up its financials. To put INTC's downfall into perspective, the company's cash flow from operations for the six-months ended July 1, 2024, was $1.07 bln compared to $6.7 bln for the same six-month period ended in 2022.On that note, a couple weeks ago Bloomberg reported that INTC is considering splitting its Product and Foundry segments in a shock move meant to help stop the bleeding. In Q2, the Foundry segment, which is core to INTC's "IDM 2.0 strategy", posted an operating loss of more than $(2.8) bln -- more than $1.0 bln worse than the year-ago period. Those mounting losses, combined with deteriorating sales, especially in the Data Center and AI (DCAI) segment (-3% in Q2), prompted INTC to initiate a huge headcount reduction plan of at least 15% of its workforce, which it also suspended its dividend.Whether INTC takes such drastic measures as splitting off the Foundry business remains to be seen, but selling off other non-core assets seems like a very plausible possibility. In fact, in another Bloomberg report from last week, it was reported that INTC is considering selling part of its Mobileye (MBLY) stake. After INTC spun MBLY off in an IPO in October 2022, it retained an 88% ownership stake in the chip maker for autonomous driving technology.

After a barrage of negative headlines over the past few months, there are few companies more in need of a narrative shift than INTC. This new military contract does offer a reprieve, although it doesn't resolve the underlying competitive issues that have engulfed INTC.
👍️ 1
JJ8 JJ8 3 weeks ago
Intel share price has an Ascending Triple Top Breakout today, on 16-Sep-2024.

This follows the Double Top Breakout of Aug. 30 breakout and is positive.

We shall see how this one may help turn around the bad slide.

I'd rather wait before adding more... given my Port circumstance and improved status at this time.

Cheers & GLTA
👍️ 1
koolmc koolmc 3 weeks ago
22's will be key break here, if it breaks and hold this time chance for 25-30 range.
👍️0
aBeezlee aBeezlee 3 weeks ago
Govt will bail Intel with taxpayer dollars. Infinite money glitch.
👍️0
Koog Koog 4 weeks ago
Intel Honesty
Tuesday, September 3, 2024
<snip>

The story Intel — or at least its past management — wants you to believe about mobile is that they foolishly passed up the opportunity to supply Apple’s iPhone, not realizing that the volume would more than make up for the margin hit; in fact, Tony Fadell told me that while Steve Jobs wanted Intel — Apple had just switched to using Intel chips for Macs — Intel chips weren’t competitive:

For me, when it came to Intel at the time, back in the mid-2000s, they were always about, “Well, we’ll just repackage what we have on the desktop for the laptop and then we’ll repackage that again for embedding.” It reminded me of Windows saying, “I’m going to do Windows and then I’m going to do Windows Mobile and I’m going to do Windows embedded.” It was using those same cores and kernels and trying to slim them down…

The mindset at Intel was never about — when they went through that CISC-RISC duality of “Which one are we going to be?”, and they chose CISC, which was the right thing at the time, if you fast forward, they also made that decision, they threw away architectural and they went to more manufacturing. That was the time when they said “We don’t have to worry about all these different product lines to meet all these architectural needs. We’re just going to have Moore’s Law take over” and so in a way that locks you into a path and that’s why Intel, not under the Pat days but previous to the Pat days, was all driven by manufacturing capability and legal. It wasn’t driven by architectural decisions, it was like, “Here’s what we got and we’re going to spread it around and we’re going to keep reusing it”.

In fact, it does go back to the Pat days, specifically CEO Pat Gelsinger’s initial stint at Intel. He was the one that pushed CISC over RISC, arguing that Intel’s CISC software advantage, supported by the company’s superior manufacturing, would ensure that the company dominated microprocessors. And, as Fadell noted, it worked, at least in PCs and servers.

Where it didn’t work was mobile: Intel couldn’t leverage its manufacturing to make x86 competitive with ARM, particularly since the latter had a head start on software; it also didn’t work in GPUs, where Intel spent years trying to build x86-based gaming chips that — you guessed it — were meant to rely on Intel’s manufacturing prowess. GPUs, of course, are the foundation of today’s AI boom, and while Intel bought Gaudi to offer AI chips, they haven’t made a dent in the market — and oh, by the way, Gaudi chips are manufactured by TSMC.

IDM 2.0None of this story is new; I recounted it in 2021’s Intel Problems. My solution then — written shortly after Gelsinger came back to Intel, fifteen years after being passed over for the CEO job — was that the company needed to split up.

Integrating design and manufacturing was the foundation of Intel’s moat for decades, but that integration has become a strait-jacket for both sides of the business. Intel’s designs are held back by the company’s struggles in manufacturing, while its manufacturing has an incentive problem.

The key thing to understand about chips is that design has much higher margins; Nvidia, for example, has gross margins between 60~65%, while TSMC, which makes Nvidia’s chips, has gross margins closer to 50%. Intel has, as I noted above, traditionally had margins closer to Nvidia, thanks to its integration, which is why Intel’s own chips will always be a priority for its manufacturing arm. That will mean worse service for prospective customers, and less willingness to change its manufacturing approach to both accommodate customers and incorporate best-of-breed suppliers (lowering margins even further). There is also the matter of trust: would companies that compete with Intel be willing to share their designs with their competitor, particularly if that competitor is incentivized to prioritize its own business?

The only way to fix this incentive problem is to spin off Intel’s manufacturing business. Yes, it will take time to build out the customer service components necessary to work with third parties, not to mention the huge library of IP building blocks that make working with a company like TSMC (relatively) easy. But a standalone manufacturing business will have the most powerful incentive possible to make this transformation happen: the need to survive.

Two months later and Gelsinger announced his turnaround plan: IDM 2.0. Intel would separate out its manufacturing into a separate division that would serve third parties, but still under the Intel banner. Gelsinger told me in an interview that this was the only way Intel could both be competitive in chips and keep investing in the leading edge; after all, AMD’s spin-off of Global Foundries resulted in the former floundering until they could break their purchase agreements with Global Foundries and go to TSMC, and the latter giving up on the leading edge.

Gelsinger is persuasive and optimistic, and for the last three years I’ve given him the benefit of the doubt. Suddenly, though, a split is back on the table; from Bloomberg:

Intel Corp. is working with investment bankers to help navigate the most difficult period in its 56-year history, according to people familiar with the matter. The company is discussing various scenarios, including a split of its product-design and manufacturing businesses, as well as which factory projects might potentially be scrapped, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private…

A potential separation or sale of Intel’s foundry division, which is aimed at manufacturing chips for outside customers, would be an about-face for Chief Executive Officer Pat Gelsinger. Gelsinger has viewed the business as key to restoring Intel’s standing among chipmakers and had hoped it would eventually compete with the likes of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., which pioneered the foundry industry.

As the article notes, Intel is likely to consider less drastic steps first; Reuters reported that ideas include selling businesses like its Altera programmable chip business and reducing capital expeditures, including axing a proposed foundry in Germany. The company also finally killed its dividend, and is cutting 15,000 jobs, which frankly, isn’t enough; I noted in an Update last week:

Intel ended last year with 124,800 people; to put that in context, TSMC had 76,478 employees and AMD 26,000, which is to say that the two companies combined had fewer employees than Intel while making better x86 chips, an actually competitive GPU, and oh yeah, making chips for everyone else on earth, including Apple and Nvidia. A 15,000 employee cut is both too small and too late.

The fundamental problem facing the company is encapsulated in that paragraph:

Intel doesn’t have the best manufacturing
Intel doesn’t design the best chips
Intel is out of the game in AI
Moreover, the future does not look bright; the problem with Intel’s most recent earnings call was threefold:

Intel’s is technically on pace to achieve the five nodes in four years Gelsinger promised (in truth two of those nodes were iterations), but they haven’t truly scaled any of them; the first attempt to do so, with Intel 3, destroyed their margins. This isn’t a surprise: the reason why it is hard to skip steps is not just because technology advances, but because you have to actually learn on the line how to implement new technology at scale, with sustainable yield. Go back to Intel’s 10nm failure: the company could technically make a 10nm chip, they just couldn’t do so economically; there are now open questions about Intel 3, much less next year’s promised 18A.
Intel is dramatically ramping up its Lunar Lake architecture as it is the only design the company has that is competitive with the Qualcomm ARM architecture undergirding Microsoft’s CoPilot+ PC initiative; the problem is that Lunar Lake’s tiles — including its CPU — are made by TSMC, which is both embarrassing and also terrible for margins.
The third problem is that the goal Gelsinger has been pushing for is the aforementioned 18A, yet Intel has yet to announce a truly committed at-scale partner. Yes, the company is in talks with lots of folks and claims some number of secret agreements, but at this point the foundry strategy needs real proof points; unfortunately Intel itself ramping up on TSMC, even as it loses control of its costs, isn’t exactly a selling point as to why any third-party should put their fortunes in Intel’s hands.
All that noted, my initial response to the meltdown over Intel’s earnings was to defend Gelsinger; what is happening to Intel now is downstream of mistakes that happened years before Gelsinger came back to the company. That remains true, but Gelsinger does have one fatal flaw: he still believes in Intel, and I no longer do.

Market RealitiesHere is the fundamental problem facing Intel, and by extension, U.S. dreams of controlling leading edge capacity: there is no reason for Intel Foundry to exist. Apple, Nvidia, AMD, and other leading edge fabless chip companies rely on TSMC, and why wouldn’t they? TSMC invested in EUV, surpassed Intel, and are spending tens of billions of dollars a year to continue pushing forward to 2nm and beyond. Yes, TSMC priced 3nm too low, but even if the company raises prices for future nodes, as I expect them to, the relative cost matters much less than TSMC’s superior customer services and demonstrated reliability.

The kicker is that the smartest decision for Intel’s own chip unit is to — as they are with Lunar Lake — rely on TSMC’s manufacturing as well. Intel still has advantages in PCs and a dominant position in on-premises and government data centers, but the best way to leverage those remaining areas of strength is to have TSMC make their chips.

This was, for the record, why Gelsinger did have a point in keeping the company together; Intel Foundry needs volume, and the easiest way to get that volume is from Intel itself. However, that by definition is a decision that is not driven by what is best for a theoretical Intel fabless business, but rather the impetus to restore Intel’s manufacturing capability, even as that manufacturing capability is heavily incentivized to cater to Intel’s chip business at the expense of external customers.

Gelsinger’s trump card has been the fact that TSMC is based in Taiwan, which is under continuous threat from China. Indeed, Gelsinger has been quite explicit on this point; from CNA English News in 2021:

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech summit in California on Wednesday that the United States government should support a sustainable semiconductor supply chain in the U.S., in part because “Taiwan is not a stable place”…

Asked about the comment, TSMC Chairman Mark Liu (???) said, “there’s nothing that needs to be addressed. TSMC does not speak ill of other companies in the industry,” and added there were probably not many people who believed Gelsinger’s argument. Geopolitical tensions, Liu said, may have a short-term impact, but he believed Taiwan could help create a brilliant decade for the global semiconductor industry, with the best technology and the best manufacturing ecosystem.

Gelsinger made the same point to me in that interview while explaining why Intel needed to stay together:

As we look at this, to me, there is almost a global national perspective to this, in that I deeply believe the West needs a world class technology provider, and I don’t think that splitting Intel in two, that it could survive for many, many, many years till that would become the case, that you could stand that up. Remember, given cash flows, R&D streams, products that enable us to drive that, and I’m committed to go fix it, and I think we’re on a good path to go fix it since I’ve been here as well. So for those three different reasons, we chose the IDM 2.0 path, but it’s not because we didn’t look at the alternative, it’s partially because we did.

This is where everyone who is invested in American manufacturing — or perhaps more accurately, concerned about China’s threat to Taiwan — has to get brutally honest. If the U.S. government and U.S. tech companies want to have a non-Taiwan option, they are going to have to pay for it directly. Yes, the CHIPS Act passed, but while Intel is getting a lot of funds, it’s going to take a lot more — and the price of those funds needs to be a much smarter incentive structure that drives Intel apart.

My proposal back in 2021 was purchase guarantees instead of subsidies, and I am back to thinking that is the only viable path.

That is why a federal subsidy program should operate as a purchase guarantee: the U.S. will buy A amount of U.S.-produced 5nm processors for B price; C amount of U.S. produced 3nm processors for D price; E amount of U.S. produced 2nm processors for F price; etc. This will not only give the new Intel manufacturing spin-off something to strive for, but also incentivize other companies to invest; perhaps Global Foundries will get back in the game, or TSMC will build more fabs in the U.S. And, in a world of nearly free capital, perhaps there will finally be a startup willing to take the leap.

That free capital world is gone, and it’s probably not realistic for a startup to figure out how to manufacture the most complex devices humans have ever produced; the best idea at this point is a new company that has the expertise and starting position of Intel Foundry. Critically, though, it shouldn’t be at all beholden to x86 chips, have hundreds of thousands of employees, or the cultural overhang of having once led the computing world. The best we can do is purchase guarantees — on the order of hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade — and a prayer that someone can make such an entity stand on its own.

To summarize, there is no market-based reason for Intel Foundry to exist; that’s not a market failure in a purely economic sense, but to the extent the U.S. national security apparatus sees it as a failure is the extent to which the U.S. is going to have to pay to make it happen. And, if the U.S. is going to pay up, that means giving that foundry the best possible chance to stand on its own two feet in the long run. That means actually earning business from Apple, Nvidia, AMD, and yes, even the fabless Intel company that will remain. The tech world has moved on from Intel; the only chance for U.S. leading edge manufacturing is to do the same

https://stratechery.com/2024/intel-honesty/
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alan81 alan81 1 month ago
Interesting times. The Intel product line is stronger than ever with the crop of on time 2024 product releases. Lunar Lake, Arrow Lake, Gaudi 3, Sierra forest, and Granite Rapids are all great leading products. OTOH, the financials are crap. All are too expensive to build based on their selling prices.
Intel needs to downsize to fit their current revenue footprint of $50B to $60B, rather than the $70B to $80B they were sized for.
Intel_18A leading edge fab technology is looking very good for both Panther Lake and Clearwater forest introduction next year. The long term continues to look very rosy, but the manana mantra has worn very thing.
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borusa borusa 1 month ago
Just when it couldn't get any worse, it gets worse. Soon they will get bounced from the Dow. They can have a sale of assets and if they don't hit a home run in sales, game over. About a year left. glta
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