Intel reports $4.1B profit in Q3, as chip demand surges
Story Highlights
- Intel reported $13.7 billion Q3 sales and $4.1 billion profit
- U.S. government agreed to take 10% stake in Intel during the past quarter
- Intel plans high-volume production of Panther Lake chips in Arizona
Intel reported stronger than expected results after markets closed on Thursday, sending the chipmaker’s shares up nearly 9% at one point in extended trading.
For the third quarter, Intel reported sales of $13.7 billion, up 3% year over year, and a $4.1 billion profit, breaking a string of six straight quarters with losses.
Lip-Bu Tan, seven months into his CEO tenure, termed it a “solid” quarter that signaled strength for Intel’s foundational x86 central processing units in an artificial-intelligence environment that has been a challenge for the company.
“Current demand is outpacing supply, a trend we expect will persist into 2026,” Dave Zinsner, Intel’s chief financial officer, said in a written statement.
Intel forecast revenue between $12.8 billion and $13.8 billion in the fourth quarter.
The quarterly report was Intel’s first since the United States agreed to take a nearly 10% stake in the company at $20.47 a share. Intel shares closed at $38.16 on Thursday and were trading around $41 in extended trading.
In introductory remarks during a call with investment analysts, Tan said Intel “proudly welcome(s) the U.S. government as an essential partner in our efforts.”
Q3 was also the quarter when Nvidia agreed to invest $5 billion in Intel, Softbank bought a $2 billion stake, and Intel outlined progress on technology advances that are vital for its own products’ attractiveness and its third-party manufacturing business.
A presentation with the Q3 report claimed “steady progress on Intel 18A,” the process node that Intel is using for the first time with its new Panther Lake processors, which will be manufactured in Arizona.
“In addition, we are advancing our work on Intel 18-AP and we continue to hit our PDK milestones,” Tan said on the company’s earnings call Thursday. “Our Intel 18A family is the foundation for at least next three generations of client and server products.”
Intel plans to enter high-volume production for its Panther Lake chips – the brains that run computers or other electronic devices – at its Ocotillo plant in Chandler later this year. Intel is also launching Clearwater Forest — its first 18A-based server processors — in the first half of 2026.