What happened?
Shares of computer processor maker Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) fell 28.9% in the morning session after the company issued a downbeat fourth-quarter profit outlook and warned of persistent weakness in the personal computer market.
According to a company press release, Intel reported third-quarter 2026 revenue of $16.51 billion, up 20.9% year on year, and non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.52. Both metrics cleared Wall Street's expectations, but the company's forward guidance disappointed investors. Intel projected fourth-quarter revenue between $15.0 billion and $16.0 billion and non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.25. At the $15.5 billion midpoint, revenue guidance fell below analysts' expectations of $17.02 billion, while the adjusted profit forecast trailed consensus estimates of $0.44 per share.
Additionally, Chief Financial Officer David Zinsner indicated that personal computer market weakness was expected to continue through at least the first half of next year. The softer forecast and prolonged PC slump raised concerns over Intel's near-term profitability, triggering the sell-off.
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What is the market telling us
Intel’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 66 moves greater than 5% over the last year. But moves this big are rare even for Intel and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 3 days ago when the stock gained 4.1% on the news that major artificial intelligence deals and landmark financing agreements reinforced investor confidence in sustained technological demand as reported by AP News.
Market sentiment received a major boost following news that Broadcom obtained $63 billion in bank financing to develop proprietary artificial intelligence chips for Anthropic. The massive commitment, paired with Anthropic filing for an initial public offering and Meta launching an equity offering, signaled to Wall Street that capital expenditure across the technology landscape remains robust. For chipmakers and hardware designers, these multi-billion-dollar transactions demonstrate that major tech players continue to channel enormous financial resources into specialized infrastructure. Rather than slowing down, corporate appetite for computing power is accelerating, helping lift semiconductor shares and providing essential support to broader equity benchmarks such as the S&P 500.
Intel is up 61.6% since the beginning of the year, but at $63.63 per share, it is still trading 54.9% below its 52-week high of $140.94 from June 2026. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Intel’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,284.
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