Intel (INTC) Q1 2024 Earnings Report

Intel reported first-quarter earnings on Thursday that topped Wall Street’s earnings-per-share expectations, but stood out slightly on sales. Intel gave a weak forecast for the current quarter.

Shares fell 8% in extended trading.

Here’s how Intel fared against LSEG consensus expectations for the quarter ended in March:

• Earnings per share: 18 cents adjusted vs. 14 cents expected
• income: $12.72 billion vs $12.78 billion expected

For the second quarter, Intel expects earnings of 10 cents per share on revenue of $13 billion in the mid-point. That forecast compares with analysts’ expected earnings per share of 25 cents on sales of $13.57 billion.

In the first quarter, Intel reported a net loss of $400 million, or 9 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $2.8 billion, or 66 cents per share, last year.

Revenue was $12.7 billion, up from $11.7 billion a year ago, a 9% year-over-year increase.

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger told investors on an earnings call to focus on the company’s long-term potential.

“We’re one of two, maybe three companies in the world that can continue to enable next-generation chip technologies,” Gelsinger said.

Intel’s report was the first since the company revealed it had restructured its financial statements to make its chip-making business, called Intel Foundry, a separate line with its own costs and sales.

Intel’s foundry business reported $4.4 billion in revenue in the quarter, down 10% year over year, the company said. The unit reported an operating loss of $2.5 billion in the March quarter. Intel said last month that it had posted an operating loss of $7 billion at its foundry in 2023.

Intel’s biggest business remains the chips it makes for PCs and laptops, which is counted as sales of consumer PCs. Those chip sales totaled $7.5 billion, up 31% year over year.

Intel also makes server CPUs, as well as other parts and software, which are accounted for in its data center and AI businesses. That line saw sales rise 5% to $3 billion, even as Intel continues to battle for server dollars against AI chips made by companies like Nvidia.

Earlier this month, Intel said it would release a new AI server processor called Gaudi 3, designed to compete with Nvidia’s popular GPUs, though it won’t ship until later this year. Intel said it expects more than $500 million in sales from its Gaudi 3 chips in the second half of the year.