Intel's data-center sales rise 78%, then its forecast sends the stock down 16%

Intel's third-quarter revenue rose 21% to $16.5 billion, and its Data Center and AI unit grew 78% to $7.3 billion, which CFO David Zinsner called the strongest data-center growth in 15 years. Adjusted earnings of 52 cents a share beat the roughly 40 cents expected B.

The fourth-quarter guide is what moved the shares: revenue of $15 billion to $16 billion against $17.1 billion expected, adjusted earnings of 25 cents against 43 cents, and falling to 38%. Zinsner put about $600 million of lost revenue over two quarters on an explosion at Intel's Israel in early October, and said the PC slowdown will last at least through the first half of 2027. The stock fell more than 16% , after losing more than 20% in the past month B.

Lip-Bu Tan said the "immediate priority" is unlocking more supply of Xeon server chips, which workloads have put back in demand because CPUs coordinate the work do. Intel also signed a multiyear deal to put more Xeon capacity, including future Diamond Rapids chips, into Oracle's cloud. SourcesB B

Sources

BIntel Q3 earnings: Data Center up 78%, weak outlook sinks stock (ShiftDelete)en.shiftdelete.net
BIntel stock falls after Q3 2026 earnings, weak outlook (Quartz)qz.com

This story ran in the Afternoon Brief of October 29th 2026.

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