Intel Earnings: Data Center Chip Sales Jump 78%, and Intel Forecasts Lower Sales Next Quarter
In the third quarter of 2026, Intel's data center chips again made more operating profit than its PC chips, as their sales jumped 78% while PC chip sales fell. Revenue rose 21% to $16.5 billion, but Intel forecast less for the fourth quarter, and its stock fell about 13% in early after-hours trading.
The short answer. All of Intel's revenue growth in the July to September quarter, and more, came from its data center chip unit, by our calculation. PC chip sales fell. That matters beyond Intel's shareholders, because server chips run the online services people use every day. Intel does not say how much of the unit's sales come from AI work, and it expects less revenue in the fourth quarter. Set side by side over five quarters, Intel's own figures show the server business closing in on the PC business that made Intel famous.
Intel's quarter ended September 26, 2026, in three numbers
On this page
- Intel earnings report for the third quarter of 2026
- Intel data center sales against PC chip sales
- Intel outlook for the fourth quarter of 2026
- Intel Foundry losses
- Intel gross margin against its 42% forecast
- Intel GAAP earnings and the Intel stock price
- Intel stock, dividend and buybacks
- Frequently asked questions
Intel earnings report for the third quarter of 2026
Intel's sales grew 21% from a year earlier to $16.5 billion, within the range it had forecast. On its adjusted measure, which leaves out some costs such as stock pay, it made a profit.
Intel reported revenue of $16.5 billion for the quarter ended September 26, 2026, against $13.7 billion a year earlier.
In July Intel had forecast $15.8 billion to $16.8 billion. The result came in $213 million above the middle of that range, by our calculation, and analysts had expected $16.467 billion, according to the consensus compiled by LSEG.
Under standard accounting (GAAP), earnings per share (EPS) were $0.60. On its adjusted (non-GAAP) basis, which also leaves out the escrowed-share line explained below, it earned $0.52 a share.
Intel had forecast $0.31 under GAAP and $0.38 adjusted. The LSEG consensus for the adjusted figure was $0.39.
Intel stock closed the regular session at $92.07 on October 29, then traded at $79.79 at 4:02 p.m. ET in early after-hours trading, 13.3% lower, in StockTitan real-time Nasdaq data.
With the results, Intel announced a multiyear collaboration with Oracle to expand Xeon-based computing on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, including future offerings on its next server processor, code-named Diamond Rapids. It also said it released version 0.9 of the design kit for its next manufacturing process, Intel 14A, in October.
Show the data
| Item | Low | High | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q3 2025 | $12.6B | $13.6B | $13.7B |
| Q4 2025 | $12.8B | $13.8B | $13.7B |
| Q1 2026 | $11.7B | $12.7B | $13.6B |
| Q2 2026 | $13.8B | $14.8B | $16.1B |
| Q3 2026 | $15.8B | $16.8B | $16.5B |
| Measure | Q3 2026 | Intel's forecast (July 23, 2026) | Q3 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $16.5 billion | $15.8 billion to $16.8 billion | $13.7 billion |
| Gross margin, GAAP | 43.0% | 41.0% | 38.2% |
| Gross margin, non-GAAP | 44.1% | 42.0% | 40.0% |
| EPS, GAAP | $0.60 | $0.31 | $0.90 |
| EPS, non-GAAP | $0.52 | $0.38 | $0.23 |
| Cash from operations | $5.1 billion | not forecast | $2.5 billion |
Source: Intel results releases for Q3 2026, Q2 2026 (the forecast) and Q3 2025; Intel's forecasts assume revenue at the $16.3 billion midpoint.
Intel data center sales against PC chip sales
Intel's server chip business is catching up with its PC chip business. Its sales were 90% of PC chip sales this quarter, by our calculation, against 48% a year earlier.
Data Center and AI, the unit selling Xeon server processors, had revenue of $7.3 billion, up 78% from a year earlier. The Client Computing and Physical AI Group, which sells the Core chips in laptops and desktops, had $8.1 billion, down 5%. A year ago the PC unit sold more than twice as much as the server unit.
Profit tells the same story more sharply. Data Center and AI earned $3.04 billion of operating income, its segment profit before interest and taxes, against $2.29 billion for PCs. In the third quarter of 2025 the PC unit earned almost three times as much as the server unit. Data center operating income has since roughly tripled from $964 million.
The two product units together earned $5.32 billion. After Foundry's loss, $1.06 billion of corporate costs Intel does not assign to a unit and the other lines, Intel as a whole had operating income of $2.52 billion.
Intel's chief executive, Lip-Bu Tan, gave the company's reason in April, when he said AI was moving "from foundational models to inference to agentic" and that "this shift is significantly increasing the need for Intel's CPUs" (first-quarter release). Agentic AI is software that carries out tasks on its own. Inference is the work of answering requests once an AI model is trained. Intel does not split the unit's sales by use, so how much of the growth comes from AI work is not stated.
In the third-quarter release, Lip-Bu Tan said Intel's immediate priority is to add supply to meet what he called "extraordinary demand for our Xeon family." He also pointed to "near-term headwinds across the PC industry." In our reading, Intel is saying server chip demand runs ahead of what it can make now, while PC demand softens.
Show the data
| Category | PC chips (CCPG) | Data Center and AI |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2025 | $8.5B | $4.1B |
| Q4 2025 | $8.2B | $4.7B |
| Q1 2026 | $7.7B | $5.1B |
| Q2 2026 | $8.9B | $6.3B |
| Q3 2026 | $8.1B | $7.3B |
Show the data
| Quarter | Data Center and AI revenue | PC chips (CCPG) revenue | Data Center and AI operating income | PC chips operating income |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q3 2025 | $4,117M | $8,535M | $964M | $2,694M |
| Q4 2025 | $4,737M | $8,193M | $1,250M | $2,209M |
| Q1 2026 | $5,052M | $7,727M | $1,542M | $2,516M |
| Q2 2026 | $6,262M | $8,877M | $2,474M | $2,343M |
| Q3 2026 | $7,318M | $8,097M | $3,039M | $2,285M |
Source: Supplemental Operating Segment Results in Intel's results releases, each quarter; the PC unit was named the Client Computing Group (CCG) until the second quarter of 2026.
Intel outlook for the fourth quarter of 2026
At the middle of its range, Intel expects fourth-quarter revenue of $15.5 billion. That would be 13% more than the same quarter of 2025, by our calculation.
The range is $15.0 billion to $16.0 billion, and its midpoint is below the $16.5 billion just reported.
The finance chief, David Zinsner, said in the release: "Looking ahead, we see the PC slowdown continuing at least through the first half of next year." In plain terms, Intel expects the PC slowdown to last into 2027, after its PC chip sales already fell 5% this quarter. The adjusted gross margin it forecast, 38.0%, is also below the 44.1% just reported.
Intel forecast EPS of $0.10 under GAAP and $0.25 adjusted, with gross margin of 37.1% and 38.0%, all at that midpoint.
In the fourth quarter of 2025, Intel had revenue of $13.7 billion and adjusted EPS of $0.15.
Intel Foundry losses
Intel's chip factory arm still lost $1.85 billion at the operating level, equal to 28% of its revenue by our calculation.
Intel Foundry had revenue of $6.7 billion, up 58% from a year earlier, and an operating loss of $1.85 billion. A year earlier the loss was 55% of revenue. The release subtracts $6.3 billion of sales between Intel's own units, and Foundry's revenue was $6.7 billion. The release does not say how much of that came from outside customers.
The loss share sets the operating loss against reported segment sales. It does not show how full the factories are, their yields (the share of usable chips per wafer) or what outside customers pay.
Show the data
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| Q3 2025 | $2.32B |
| Q4 2025 | $2.51B |
| Q1 2026 | $2.44B |
| Q2 2026 | $2.09B |
| Q3 2026 | $1.85B |
Intel gross margin against its 42% forecast
Gross margin, the share of revenue left after the cost of making the chips, was 44.1% on Intel's adjusted basis. That is above the 42.0% it forecast.
Under standard accounting the gross margin was 43.0%, against a forecast of 41.0%.
On the adjusted basis the margin was 40.0% a year earlier. It then went to 37.9%, 41.0% and 41.8% in the three quarters that followed.
Intel's margin forecasts assumed revenue at the $16.3 billion midpoint. In our reading, higher production spreads the factories' fixed costs over more chips, while prices, product mix and the cost of starting new processes also move the margin.
Intel GAAP earnings and the Intel stock price
Part of Intel's standard-accounting result tracks its own share price, through Intel shares held in escrow for the US government. This quarter that line was a gain of $1.0 billion.
The shares are held for the Department of Commerce and are released as Intel performs, and receives cash, under its CHIPS Act Secure Enclave agreement with the government. Intel carries them on its books as a liability, an amount it owes, valued at fair value, which moves with Intel's share price. All else equal, a higher Intel share price raises the liability and Intel records a loss, and a lower price produces a gain. The line also covers shares released during the quarter, so its size can differ from what the stock's change between quarter ends would suggest.
In the second quarter Intel stock nearly tripled, from $43.13 to $128.32, and the line cost Intel $12.5 billion.
That item is the main reason Intel reported a GAAP loss of $2.16 a share that quarter while its adjusted EPS was $0.42.
In the third quarter the line was a gain of $1.0 billion in the release's reconciliation, its table from GAAP to adjusted figures. Intel stock closed at $123.00 on September 25, the quarter's last trading day. Worth $0.17 a share in Intel's reconciliation, the gain is the main reason GAAP EPS of $0.60 came in above the adjusted $0.52. The adjusted figures leave the line out, so they track the chip business without it.
Intel stock, dividend and buybacks
Intel pays no dividend, and its 2025 annual report says its last share buyback under its program was in early 2021. In the third quarter it completed a $23 billion share offering, priced in August at $95 a share.
Intel suspended the dividend starting in the fourth quarter of 2024 to keep cash for its investment plans, and its 2025 annual report shows no dividend declared that year. In that July 2024 release Intel said it remained committed to a competitive dividend as cash flows improve. The same annual report says the last repurchase under its buyback authorization was in the first quarter of 2021, with none in 2025. The August stock sale was priced at $95 a share for 210.5 million shares, with an option for the banks running the sale to take 31.6 million more. Intel's third-quarter release says it completed a $23 billion offering. The proceeds are for general corporate purposes that may include capital spending.
Intel had 5,043 million shares outstanding at the end of June, before that sale. Its debt then was about $50.5 billion, short and long term. At September 26, 2026, after the sale, its balance sheet showed 5,310 million shares outstanding and $50.1 billion of debt. That share count is about 5% higher than in June, so each share now holds a slightly smaller slice of Intel's profit.
What to watch
- Escrowed shares released to the government in the quarter and the change in their value: Intel's Form 10-Q for the third quarter, due at the SEC in the coming weeks.
Our numbers
- Data center sales at 90% of PC chip sales, against 48% a year earlier: Data Center and AI revenue divided by the PC unit's revenue, each quarter.
- Intel Foundry's operating loss at 28% of its revenue, against 55% a year earlier: the segment's operating loss divided by its revenue.
- Revenue $213 million above the middle of Intel's forecast: reported revenue minus $16.3 billion, the midpoint of the July range.
- Data center revenue up $3.20 billion from a year earlier, more than Intel's whole $2.86 billion increase: each revenue change from the third quarter of 2025.
- A fourth-quarter forecast midpoint 13% more than the fourth quarter of 2025: the midpoint of the new range divided by $13.674 billion, minus one.
Frequently asked questions
Did Intel beat earnings expectations?
Revenue of $16.5 billion was above the $16.467 billion consensus compiled by LSEG, and adjusted EPS of $0.52 was above its $0.39 consensus. Against its own forecast, revenue came in within the $15.8 billion to $16.8 billion range.
How was Intel's earnings report?
Intel reported third-quarter 2026 revenue of $16.5 billion, up 21% from a year earlier, with adjusted EPS of $0.52 and GAAP EPS of $0.60. Data center chip sales grew 78%.
When is Intel's earnings call?
Intel scheduled its call for 2 p.m. Pacific time (5 p.m. Eastern) on October 29, 2026, after releasing its results after the market close. The webcast is on Intel's investor relations site.
Is Intel Foundry profitable?
No. Intel Foundry had an operating loss of $1.85 billion in the third quarter of 2026. It lost more than $2 billion in each of the four quarters before.
Does Intel pay a dividend?
No. Intel suspended its dividend starting in the fourth quarter of 2024 and has not paid one since.
Why is Intel's GAAP EPS different from its adjusted EPS?
The GAAP figure includes items the adjusted figure leaves out, which Intel lists in its reconciliation. They include stock pay and restructuring charges and the change in value of escrowed shares held for the US government, which moves with Intel's stock price.
Sources
- Intel stock overview on StockTitan
- Intel financials on StockTitan
- Intel third-quarter 2026 results release
- Intel second-quarter 2026 results release, with the third-quarter forecast
- Intel first-quarter 2026 results release
- Intel fourth-quarter 2025 results release
- Intel third-quarter 2025 results release
- Intel $20 billion stock offering pricing
- Intel second-quarter 2024 release, dividend suspension
- TSMC third-quarter 2026 earnings on StockTitan
- AMD second-quarter 2026 earnings on StockTitan
The information provided in this article is for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute financial advice, investment recommendation, or an endorsement of any particular investment strategy. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investors should conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions.