Intel Shares Plunge After Hours as Weak Q4 Outlook and PC Slowdown Overshadow Q3 Beat

INTC shares fell between 16% and 22% in extended trading on October 29 after the chipmaker paired a modest third-quarter beat with a fourth-quarter forecast well below expectations, blaming continued softness in the PC market. The stock had already slipped 3.6% in the regular session before the report.

Third-quarter adjusted EPS was 52 cents against a 40-cent LSEG consensus, and revenue of $16.51 billion edged past the $16.5 billion estimate, up 21% from $13.7 billion a year earlier. The mix was lopsided: data center and AI revenue jumped 78% to $7.3 billion, while the client computing and physical AI group fell 5% to $8.1 billion and missed estimates.

The guidance drove the sell-off. Intel expects fourth-quarter adjusted EPS of 25 cents on revenue of $15 billion to $16 billion, against analyst expectations of 43 cents and $17.1 billion. CFO David Zinsner said the company sees "the PC slowdown continuing at least through the first half of next year," and the outlook also absorbs an explosion earlier this month at Intel's fab in Israel, which Zinsner told Reuters will cost about $600 million in lost revenue over two quarters. Counterpoint Research data cited by CNBC show global PC shipments fell 4% in the second quarter on soaring memory and component costs.

The reaction follows a huge run: the stock was up about 150% year to date before the report, though already down roughly 23% in October on concerns about the size of the AI buildout. Watch whether data center and AI demand keeps offsetting PC weakness, how quickly the Israel fab returns to full production, and what AMD, which reports next week, says about PC demand.