Quick overview

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Intel’s stock fell as much as 17.5% after CEO Lip-Bu Tan issued a poor forecast and cautioned that the chipmaker was having manufacturing issues.

Revenue and earnings forecasts for the first quarter were significantly below Wall Street expectations. Additionally, Tan’s statement during a conference call with analysts that it would require “time and resolve” to turn around the business caused the shares to drop.

Investors who were hoping for a greater boost from new products are disappointed by production issues. “We are on a multi-year journey,” the CEO declared. Low manufacturing yields, or the proportion of usable chips that leave its factories, are a problem for Intel, the biggest producer of personal computer processors. This has made fulfilling orders more difficult. This is yet another setback for the once-dominant semiconductor company, which has been working for years to recover from market share losses and regain its technological advantage.

Tan stated in an interview that the company is making  efforts to address its manufacturing issues and that demand is “quite strong.” However, he noted that Intel depleted a large portion of its stock during the fourth quarter. Tan declared, “Our production, manufacturing, and yield are not up to my standards.”

Chief Financial Officer Dave Zinsner stated during the conference call with analysts that the company won’t have more supply until the end of the first quarter, especially of profitable server computer chips. He clarified that it will take several months to produce more products because Intel has depleted its inventory.

According to Zinsner, supply will rise every quarter this year. In contrast to Intel’s recent attempts to reduce its budget, spending on new plants and equipment in 2026 will be comparable to that of the previous year. However, he stated that any increase in output from new equipment won’t occur until 2027.

Another difficulty, according to Zinsner, is that even though there is a strong market for server chips, the company cannot move production too quickly in that direction without endangering its PC clients.

According to Tan, there is also worry that rising memory chip costs will result in more costly laptops and decreased demand. Intel had been enjoying a surge of enthusiasm from Wall Street. In recent months, investors have poured money into the stock, wagering that new products would strengthen finances. Additionally, Nvidia Corp. and the US government made prominent investments in Intel. and SoftBank Group Corp.