Intel shares plunge 22pc after PC slowdown

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Joe SledgeFri, October 30, 2026 at 8:55 AM UTC

Lip-Bu Tan, the Intel boss. The tech giant’s PC chip division is struggling - AFP via Getty Images/Cheng Yu-chen

Intel shares plunged by more than a fifth after the chipmaker warned a squeeze on memory chips was hurting PC sales.

The US tech giant delivered a weaker-than-expected revenue and profit forecast for the fourth quarter on Thursday, damaging confidence in its turnaround.

Shares plunged 22pc in after-hours trading in New York after it missed sales numbers pencilled in by analysts.

The processing firm has struggled in recent years because of market share losses to rivals such as AMD and Nvidia, and having struggled to take advantage of the smartphone and AI booms.

The company said its PC chip division was struggling as data centre builders outbid other buyers for scarce components.

Higher costs for chips also mean surging prices for PCs, which have put off customer spending.

David Zinsner, its chief financial officer, warned the PC slowdown would stretch into the first half of next year. This fall in growth has been compounded by rising competition from the likes of Qualcomm.

The company warned that current-quarter sales would come in between $1bn (£750m) to $2bn short of Wall Street’s estimates of $17bn.

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Lip-Bu Tan, the Intel chief executive, told Bloomberg: “I am a bit disappointed in terms of how we cannot fulfil the customer requirements.

“Memory pricing went up a lot. I think my prediction is that in 2027, it is going to be a very severe issue to all of us. We are not alone – it’s just the whole market is impacted.”

Gross margins were also projected to drop to 37pc amid rising component costs and an industry-wide shortage of memory chips.

The fall in investor confidence comes as a blow to Mr Tan, who has aimed to scale back years of heavy spending under Pat Gelsinger, his predecessor.

Intel raised $20bn recently through a share sale to capitalise on its stock price, which had surged more than 140pc this year.

The company is also reeling from an explosion this month at an Israeli facility, which killed two of its workers.

Yakir Kosashvili, 35, and Ilya Chechulin, 49, were identified as the two victims that died following the blast at the factory in Kiryat Gat, southern Israel.

Police believe the explosion was caused by a gas cylinder which was being offloaded from a truck.

Demand for AI computing remained strong despite the headwinds in consumer hardware.

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Money”