Intel Stock Plummets 57% Amid Foundry Losses and PC Slump
Intel became the worst-performing S&P 500 stock in Q4 as heavy foundry spending and a PC market decline offset record data center growth.
Intel Corporation became the worst-performing stock in the S&P 500 during the fourth quarter, with its share price declining by 57%. The downturn occurred despite the company reporting its strongest data center growth in 15 years, with Data Center and AI revenue rising 78% to $7.32 billion and total revenue increasing 20.9% to $16.51 billion.
Intel faced a combination of weakening PC demand, rising memory prices, and significant operational setbacks. These included packaging substrate shortages and a two-week shutdown at its Fab 28 facility in Israel, which resulted in approximately $300 million in lost revenue. The company's Intel Foundry division reported a quarterly loss of $1.85 billion, and CFO David Zinsner indicated that the company does not expect positive cash flow in the coming year.
To support its turnaround, the company secured a $5 billion equity investment from Nvidia Inc., which also selected Intel as the host CPU for its DGX Rubin NVL8. Additionally, Intel entered a multiyear Xeon collaboration with Oracle. The company's recovery now depends on upcoming foundry customer announcements and the delivery of the Intel 14A 1.0 PDK early next year.
