Intel forecast third-quarter revenue and profit above Wall Street expectations as demand for artificial intelligence data centre chips continued to accelerate, sending its shares up 5.2% in after-hours trading.
The chipmaker expects revenue of between US$15.8 billion and US$16.8 billion for the current quarter, above analysts’ estimate of US$15.1 billion, while adjusted earnings are projected at 38 US cents per share compared with the consensus forecast of 27 US cents.
For the second quarter ended June 27, Intel reported revenue of US$16.13 billion, up 25.4% year-on-year, while adjusted profit reached 42 US cents per share, comfortably beating estimates of US$14.42 billion in revenue and 21 US cents per share in earnings.
The stronger performance was driven by growing demand for data centre central processing units as businesses increasingly deploy AI agents capable of carrying out tasks such as software coding. Intel’s data centre and AI division generated US$6.26 billion in revenue during the quarter, surpassing analysts’ expectations of US$5.37 billion.
Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan said Intel is now “fully committed” to high-volume production of chips using its next-generation 14A manufacturing process in 2028, adding that he is “increasingly confident that the 14A will be a highly competitive process.”
Chief Financial Officer David Zinsner told Reuters the company had raised its capital expenditure forecast for this year to US$20 billion from US$18 billion previously as booming AI demand outpaced manufacturing capacity. Spending is also expected to increase significantly next year.
Intel also reported stronger-than-expected revenue from its foundry business at US$5.77 billion and said it had secured Tesla as a customer for its next-generation 14A manufacturing process for the automaker’s “Terafab” AI chip project. Rival chipmakers Arm Holdings and AMD also rose in extended trading following the results.
