Chip company: Intel exceeds Wall Street expectations in AI boom

As a result, quarterly sales rose by seven percent year-on-year to $13.6 billion (11.64 billion euros). Analysts had on average expected revenue of $12.4 billion. Intel achieved adjusted earnings per share of $0.29 – well above the average forecast of $0.01.

Still high losses

The bottom line, however, was that there was another large loss of $4.28 billion, after being in the red of $887 million a year earlier. Intel is currently investing heavily in new production processes that are intended to bring the former market leader out of the crisis. However, Intel was recently able to win electric car pioneer Tesla as a customer, where company boss Elon Musk wants to expand the production of its own chips.

Intel also surprised investors with its sales outlook for the current quarter. The group expects revenue of between 13.8 and 14.8 billion dollars, while the market expected an average forecast of around 13.1 billion dollars. The share temporarily rose by around 13 percent in after-hours trading.

US involvement

Under the boss Lip-Bu Tan, who has been in office for around a year, Intel is trying to get out of the crisis by cutting costs, among other things, and has also given up plans to build a factory in Magdeburg. In August, after pressure from President Donald Trump, the US state received a stake of around ten percent in Intel in return for billions in subsidies that had previously been promised free of charge.

Intel once dominated the semiconductor market, but has been struggling with problems for years. The graphics card specialist Nvidia has conquered a leading position, especially in the business with chips for artificial intelligence. Intel is also under pressure in its traditional business with PC processors and chips for data centers.