Instant Reaction: Intel's Revenue Shatters Wall Street Estimates

Summary

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Bloomberg Talks: Instant Reaction—Intel's Revenue Shatters Wall Street Estimates

Date: July 23, 2026
Host: Bloomberg
Guests: Ian King (Bloomberg Tech Reporter), Mandeep Singh (Global Head of Technology Research, Bloomberg Intelligence), Ed Ludlow (Host, Bloomberg Tech)

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Episode Overview

This breaking news episode delivers instant expert analysis on Intel's quarterly earnings, which significantly beat Wall Street estimates, driven largely by a boom in data center demand—particularly for CPUs powering artificial intelligence (AI). Bloomberg’s team explores the drivers of Intel’s outperformance, its competitive standing in the market, investor reaction, and challenges ahead for sustaining growth as the semiconductor industry shifts toward integrated "systems" for AI workloads.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Intel Shocks with Strong Data Center Results

• Intel’s Revenue Upswing: The company’s revenue beat expectations due to a 59% jump in data center segment sales—more than double the pace of overall corporate growth.
  • Quote [01:50], Ian King: "Intel delivered a surprisingly strong revenue forecast for the current period, indicating that a surge in data center spending is helping fuel the chip maker's turnaround."
• AI Boom as Catalyst: Rising AI workloads are driving demand for new CPUs in data centers—a segment where Intel has a strong legacy hold.

2. Competitive Landscape—Intel versus AMD, Nvidia, and Google

• Market No Longer Monopolized: While Intel historically dominated CPUs, rivals like AMD, Nvidia, and Google now build their own increasingly powerful chips and integrated systems.
  • Quote [02:35], Mandeep Singh: "Intel is not a monopoly that it used to be. And that's where the sustainable expectations going in the quarter were really low."
• The ‘Systems’ Threat: Newer competitors offer complete AI systems (combining CPUs, accelerators, networking), whereas Intel mostly sells CPUs.
  • Quote [03:36], Mandeep Singh: "Intel is not selling you a system, they're just selling you a chip."
• Positioning in AI Era: Intel leads for traditional data centers needing server refreshes, but integrated solutions from rivals are gaining traction in next-gen AI data centers.

3. Questions Over Sustainability

• One-Off Bump or Durable Growth?: Skepticism remains about whether Intel can maintain high growth as the data center market prioritizes integrated, AI-centric systems.
  • Quote [04:17], Mandeep Singh: "On the data center side, again, expectations were really rock bottom. So they came out, they beat that data center number by 700 million. Great. But... Intel is not in that [Nvidia, AMD] category yet."
• Biggest Competitor for Legacy Data Centers: AMD, targeting a systems approach, is currently Intel’s main rival in the traditional space.
  • Quote [07:18], Mandeep Singh: "AMD... just talked about how they are focused on that systems opportunity too."

4. Investor Reactions & Stock Volatility

• Stock Soared Then Corrected: Intel’s stock, one of the S&P’s best performers earlier in the year, saw sharp declines this month—reflecting profit-taking and sector volatility.
  • Quote [08:38], Ian King: "This was the third best performing stock in the S&P 500... But this month it's just gotten crushed."
• Market's Skepticism: Low expectations set a low bar for the quarter; strong capex (capital expenditure) by hyperscale cloud operators bodes well for chipmakers.

5. Capital Expenditures (Capex) and Supply Chain

• Capex on the Rise: Intel is raising capex guidance (now $20B up from $18B), signaling confidence in customer demand.
  • Quote [13:34], Ed Ludlow: "If you think about the capex guide... it's about $20 billion. The previous guide was about 18... they see demand enough where they're willing to spend."
• Production Capacity Challenges: Despite having domestic foundries, Intel struggles to fully meet surging demand—a "good problem to have," but one that raises questions.
  • Quote [11:56], Ed Ludlow: "Demand for their CPUs in the data center server context is outpacing their improving supply."

6. Outstanding Questions and Transparency

• Visibility and Long-Term Contracts: Analysts want more clarity from Intel on customer contracts (LTA—long-term agreements) and backlog, akin to what memory providers like Micron disclose.
  • Quote [17:35], Mandeep Singh: "If Intel really has that sort of visibility with their customers, the LTA's, then they should give a backlog number so that street can model that."
• Risks of Regulation: As data centers’ energy usage and strategic importance grow, tech giants may face greater regulation—posing risks for all major players.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [02:35] Mandeep Singh: “The only thing I'm not very sure about is how it translates into sustainable demand... Intel is not a monopoly that it used to be.”
• [03:36] Mandeep Singh: “Intel is not selling you a system, they're just selling you a chip.”
• [06:20] Mandeep Singh: “Think of it as traditional data centers versus AI data centers... For all the traditional data centers, Intel is great because... they need to refresh. You buy Nvidia systems for your AI data centers.”
• [09:54] Mandeep Singh: “Because they're raising their CapEx.” (explaining Alphabet’s stock decline despite good semiconductor-sector news)
• [13:34] Ed Ludlow: “They had not been doing a good job, like they were not very good at building their own products. And that is a problem. And I think what he's saying now is that's getting better, they are improving their own supply, but they're not yet [done]. It's a process.”
• [15:14] Mandeep Singh: “If there's one common thread... demand far outstrips supply. So why would you not be doubling down at this time, especially for something where you had a monopoly in the past.”

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Segment Timestamps

• 01:39 — Breaking news introduction, Intel’s results breakdown (Mandeep Singh, Ian King)
• 02:35–05:00 — Data center demand explained; competitive landscape; sustainability concerns
• 06:20–08:38 — Intel’s role in traditional vs AI data centers; AMD as key competitor; speculation on future growth
• 08:38–10:33 — Stock market reactions, CapEx impact, comparison to other tech giants like Alphabet
• 11:38–13:34 — Ed Ludlow in San Francisco: Intel’s supply chain, CapEx plans, production hiccups
• 15:11–17:35 — Debate over CapEx strategy, investor confidence, transparency on contracts and backlog
• 17:33–18:43 — Final thoughts: sustainability, need for more reporting transparency, side notes on Musk and industry partnerships

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Closing Thoughts

The episode paints Intel as a chipmaker in transition—experiencing a powerful short-term rebound due to a spike in data center CPU demand, but facing ongoing strategic uncertainty as the semiconductor industry moves toward complete AI-focused systems. While its legacy strengths still matter for traditional enterprise IT, the future will hinge on Intel’s ability to evolve, deliver transparency, and capture next-generation workloads before rivals seize the upper hand.

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For listeners interested in the dynamics of tech earnings, AI infrastructure, and industry strategy, this episode provides rich, on-the-ground perspectives from Bloomberg’s leading analysts and reporters.

Transcript

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[Bloomberg Host]

Bloomberg Audio Studios Podcasts Radio News

[Bloomberg Narrator]

this

[Mandeep Singh]

is a breaking news update from Bloomberg.

[Bloomberg Narrator]

Instant reaction and analysis from our 3,000 journalists and analysts around the world.

[Ian King]

Here's how in King Ian King, who's been covering this company and this sector for many years, put it intel delivered a surprisingly strong revenue forecast for the current period, indicating that a surge in data center spending is helping fuel the chip makers turnaround. The outlook underscores Intel's gains with data center customers which are clamoring for chips to satisfy demand for AI computing. Sales in that segment soared 59% last quarter, more than double the pace of Intel's overall right now.

[Bloomberg Host]

Chief Executive Officer Lip Bhutan saying the CPU is taking off in data centers. All right, let's get to it. Back with us is of course Mitt with our Bloomberg Intelligence team. He oversees tech research here, Global tech Research for our intelligence team. This looks like a really strong report.

[Mandeep Singh]

It is, and it's led by something we all expected. Data centers. You know, that's where you are seeing the demand. We saw that in Google's results yesterday. And look, the CPU side is something that intel has had a monopoly over the years. They obviously lost the plot, but now they seem to be coming back. The only thing I'm not very sure about is how it translates into sustainable demand because everyone else is also making CPUs. Whether it's Nvidia, whether it's Google, even the likes of AMD, they're all focused on CPU. So intel is not a monopoly that it used to be. And that's where the sustainable expectations going in the quarter were really low. So they did beat that.

[Ian King]

So then why are, why are people buying intels rather than AMD's or Nvidia's? Like, what if this is, is it a commodity, this part of the business?

[Mandeep Singh]

So if you're just looking for a cpu, intel still has their foundry where they make the most CPUs. And it makes sense for anybody to go to intel if you're looking for systems, which is what Google said. They're selling TPU systems now, right? A TPU system has got an accelerator, it's got cpu, it's got networking, it's got everything. That's what all these companies are doing with their data centers now is they're selling a complete system where CPU is one of the building blocks. Intel is not selling you a system, they're just selling you a chip.

[Bloomberg Host]

Kind of says to me, not a great business plan, is it? Like, so how do you make sense?

[Mandeep Singh]

Whether or not I think it's too early to compare intel to the likes of Nvidia or what Google told us with their TPU systems, it's still a very early stage opportunity for Intel. On the data center side, again, expectations were really rock bottom. So they came out, they beat that data center number by 700 million. Great. But if I look at the sustainability of what Google plans to do or what Nvidia plans to do, intel is not in that category yet. And that's where you need for them to execute much better on the data center side in terms of having a gpu, having more on the networking side, having a systems play, which is what we are hearing from amd, by the way. That's what AMD is after. That's what Broadcom is after. So I'm not ready to put intel in that basket of companies that have systems opportunities.

[Bloomberg Host]

But they need to get there.

[Mandeep Singh]

I think it's a big challenge. I mean, you have to remember intel underperformed for a period of 5, 6 years where they just had things going down. So for them to come back, it's going to Take a while. I mean, the foundry side is where they could get help from the US Government stake and they could land more customers in terms of foundry usage. But in terms of again, comparing them to someone like Nvidia, we are far off from that.

[Ian King]

Should we compare them to Nvidia?

[Mandeep Singh]

I mean, Nvidia is making their own CPUs. And Nvidia will tell you they already generate up to $20 billion by selling CPUs as part of their system. So intel has. Nvidia has already surpassed intel in terms of the CPU side of that equation.

[Bloomberg Host]

So what to Tim's question or Tim's point, Mandeep, what is again the role of intel in the future in the world of semiconductors? There's still value there. There's still a good business there.

[Mandeep Singh]

Yeah. So think of it as traditional data centers versus AI data centers. For all the traditional data centers, intel is great because they have those servers that companies were using that they need to refresh. And now intel has the ability to give them the latest servers that, by the way, you need latest CPU servers to run these agent tech workloads. So when you deploy AI, so far it was just training for inferencing. You need CPUs, and that's where if an enterprise is looking to refresh their old servers, they'll go for Intel. They won't buy Nvidia systems because you don't need to do that for your traditional data centers. You buy Nvidia systems for your AI data centers, which need a lot more power, which have different specs altogether.

[Bloomberg Host]

So who's their biggest competitor then in that particular universe?

[Mandeep Singh]

Amd.

[Fidelity Representative]

Amd?

[Mandeep Singh]

Yeah. Okay, but AMD just talked about how they are focused on that systems opportunity too. So everyone realizes the larger opportunity is AI data centers. It's not your traditional data center. So that's where the sustainability of this growth, I mean, we are coming off a very low base.

[Bloomberg Narrator]

Right.

[Mandeep Singh]

So yeah, they grew, you know, whatever, 60%. That's great. But can you sustain 80% type growth that Nvidia has shown they can over a period of time? And that's the real question here.

[Bloomberg Host]

So this business that seems to be kind of unique to intel, for those who are kind of doing upgrades right. On their data centers for inferencing? I mean, at some point does that go away and people are more focused on the bigger data centers or no companies are going to need it.

[Mandeep Singh]

You need need more compute. The question is, how much is Nvidia going to sell in terms of CPUs versus how much opportunity is left for intel as a standalone CPU provider because remember Nvidia is bundling everything. Google GPUs are bundling everything and saying CPUs are just one component of agentic workloads. So why would enterprises keep buying from intel where they have to get other components from other providers?

[Ian King]

The stock is, is, is up. I mean this was the best before the third best performing stock in the S&P 500 in the first half of the year. But this month it's just gotten crushed. And part of that has had to do with just how, how much it's run high. I mean this was a Stock that was June 22nd at $141 per share. Now it's at about $100 a share as of the close. If you take into account the move higher right now it's at about 111 per share. What was the weakness this month that, that had investors thinking that okay, the bar is actually pretty low for this report expectations.

[Mandeep Singh]

I mean overall semis as a complex I think corrected people took a lot of profits. We even saw the memory names go down. So I don't think there was anything unique to intel over there. But with that being said, things have come back on the semi side, you know, very quickly. We had, it feels like we had somewhat of a correction and then things rebounded fairly quickly and the Google report with them raising capex. I'm expecting every hyperscaler will raise capex. Well guess what, all the semiconductor names will catch a bit because of the CapEx increase.

[Ian King]

Okay, you mentioned Alphabet and we're supposed to be talking about intel right now, but you mentioned Alphabet so we'll go there. Alphabet just got crushed today. Why?

[Mandeep Singh]

Because they're raising their capex.

[Ian King]

But raising capex is good.

[Mandeep Singh]

It's good for the semiconductor companies, not for someone like Alphabet. Right.

[Ian King]

In the past it's sometimes been good for a company like Alphabet because it indicates demand and you know when they spend that money they will to build infrastructure. That infrastructure will be used and generate revenue.

[Mandeep Singh]

And they are showing that in their cloud segment. We talked about how Fast it's growing 82% but market will always get nervous when you are talking these big numbers. I mean we are talking about trillion dollars in capex by these five big hyperscalers next year. That's the 2027 consensus number, can we say?

[Bloomberg Host]

Because I think people think about the spend on AI and the build kind of akin to building out, you know, energy markets. Right. It's, it's expensive to do this stuff and you have to think about the longer term trends. But have the tech sector been burned enough like the oil patch? Yeah, I mean, semiconductors certainly have seen

[Mandeep Singh]

the booms and busts they have. And I mean, you drew the comparison to the energy markets and the oil market. Those are regulated companies. Imagine after all this spend.

[Bloomberg Host]

Yeah.

[Mandeep Singh]

If these companies became regulated. And guess what? You can't really maximize your profits anymore. That would be very interesting. You know, so there's always that risk with these large models. The government may decide these two companies are too powerful in terms of the models they have developed. They need to, you know, limit their hold. And that's a big risk when it comes to this capex.

[Bloomberg Host]

We already have a government that's looking at the power usage and thinking about what their responsibility is. Right. Some of the tech companies in terms of data centers.

[Ian King]

I want to bring in Ed Ludlow, the host of Bloomberg Tech. He's standing by in San Francisco. Ed, you spoke to Dave Zisner, that Intel cfo. You also spoke to Lip Bhutan, the CEO of intel, along with Ian King and some reporting on the terminal. What did you learn from them in their commentary? That that sort of adds to what we heard in terms of numbers from this quarter.

[Ed Ludlow]

Yeah, I mean, this is a CPU story. Right. There's just very high data center demand for cpu. And that is the game that intel is in. It's the part of the AI story that they have been able to get and hold on to. And you know, right now intel is in a position where it's doing everything it can to improve its production. You know, they are in, in a place where demand for their CPUs in the data center server context is outpacing their improving supply. So they're doing a better job, but they're still leaving a bit of money on the table because they just cannot meet 100% of the orders that are being placed. That is, as Lippu put it, a good problem to have. But right now, if you look at the aftermarket trade, completely in line, what Mandeep's been outlining as well, it is the capital expenditure story once again, that's kind of moving the needle here.

[Bloomberg Host]

Because people have to buy and they have to buy from intel, is that it?

[Mandeep Singh]

But intel has the foundry capacity to produce that. So if they're complaining about supply, to me, that's surprising. You've got all the fabs. You're not going to TSMC to make those CPUs. Right. So I'm a little surprised there.

[Bloomberg Host]

What would be the question then? That you would be asking Lipo, like

[Mandeep Singh]

why is there vapor shortages for your own CPUs? Like you have the foundries that are based here in the us why can't you ramp them up faster to meet the demand that you see?

[Wise Representative]

What do it.

[Ian King]

Just ramp it up.

[Wise Representative]

Come on.

[Bloomberg Host]

And Ludlow though, you know, as we continue to go through these numbers, what else is jumping out for you?

[Ed Ludlow]

Yeah, well, just on Mandeep's point, I think, you know, a quarter ago when I spoke to Lip on the phone, he was very honest that they had not been doing a good job, like they were not very good at building their own products. And that is a problem. And I think what he's saying now is that's getting better, they are improving their own supply, but they're not yet that day. You know, it's a process. I think the other thing as well, you know, with intel, you know, the foundry business, we still don't have anything concrete on which technology companies around the world are customers of intel for Foundry and their latest processes. But if you think about the capex guide to what Dave's into, the CFO told me is that capex this year will now be higher, about $20 billion. The previous guide was about 18 and it would also represent year on year capex growth. But he also absolutely underscored that Bhutan is a very cautious guy. He does not deploy capital and improve or increase capex unless he's sure he's going to get a return on it. And so that's what they're trying to argue for now, that they, they see demand enough where they're willing to spend on the tooling side specifically, not the space side to, to increase that capacity because they think they have the customer, customer demand.

[Ian King]

But, but Mandeep, you know, as, as Ian King has reminded us over and over again, this stuff can be cyclical and intel has learned the hard way that the investments don't always pay off. Do they have a, do they have to tell investors a different story? That this, this time we know that where we're spending the money is the right place to spend the money?

[Mandeep Singh]

I mean right now I think.

[Ian King]

Or is everybody's just throwing money at

[Mandeep Singh]

everything and it's fine, everyone realizes the demand is huge. And you know, if there's one common thread across all the narratives we hear is that demand far outstrips supply. So why would you not be doubling down at this time, especially for something where you had a monopoly in the past until there is a product related reason. Like I said, you Know, if it's that systems aspect where, you know, companies are not going to buy CPUs from you because they want more systems level type of product, then I understand. But without that, I see no reason why they wouldn't be aggressive on Capex just because there is demand and they have the fabs.

[Bloomberg Host]

Well, at Ludlow, I mean, Liputin being cautious and careful, might that be, you know, not his downfall? I'm not going to say that, but problematic when, if the demand is there, as we're just talking about with Mandeep, you know, you want to spend to kind of make sure you don't miss out on that.

[Ed Ludlow]

Yeah. I mean, they again are going on the data they have available, which is customer demand. You know, they have this line at intel which so consistent on, which is like when a customer signs up to use our latest chip making process, we don't announce it. We leave it to the customer. Problem for them is none of the customers have announced it. All they'll say is that they signed loads of deals, loads of LTA's, they call them in the first six months of this year. And they were like, okay, so we have the deals. That gives us confidence to invest. I think, you know, I think we'll learn more overnight. Right. All of the sell side notes will come out. Whatever questions get asked in the call, give you a sense of the psychology of where the sell sides are. But it is astonishing that the stock's up 12% in after hours, given it was up 172% going into today's close. It's like.

[Ian King]

But it got beat up. But, Ed, it was at what, over 130 a few weeks ago?

[Bloomberg Host]

Yeah. It was down 30% or so in the last.

[Ed Ludlow]

Right. Yeah. I mean, you know, one week. A market does not make recession. A market doesn't make. But, you know, to answer, you know, there was a point in history where intel was the absolute best at this.

[Bank of America Representative]

Yeah.

[Ed Ludlow]

And they had 60% margins. They're not near that. Right, right. There's still like a lot of stuff to fix here. And I don't think they're saying that they're close to that. They're just saying that they're making progress.

[Bloomberg Host]

Final thoughts as we wrap up from you, Mandy.

[Mandeep Singh]

I mean, I would like to see a backlog number. Ed alluded to LTA's. Yeah. Like with Micron, they signed LTA's, but they also gave visibility into pricing and how much that backlog is in terms of those LTA's. So if intel really has that sort of visibility with their customers, the LTA's then they should give a backlog number so that street can model that. You know, okay, this is how CPUs will ramp up. To me, really, it's about sustainability of growth here once the numbers get normalized because we are coming off a really low base here now.

[Bloomberg Host]

That's a really good point. Right? You got to think about where we're coming from.

[Ed Ludlow]

Ed, final thought just that, you know, they'll be pushed on giving more detail on customers. Something that did not come up and I really, you know, I think it's interesting is, you know, we haven't discussed tariff app and the partnership that's in place with Musk and you know, it's unlike litboot to kind of talk openly about that. But I would say that ASML got asked about it and last night Musk was name checking Micron all over the place so it could come up. And to me that's, you know, Musk is news. And there we go.

[Bloomberg Host]

No, never makes news. Good stuff, guys. Hey, thank you so much. Of course, our Ed Ludlow out there in San Francisco. He is host of Bloomberg Tech and our Mandeep Singh right here in our studio. He's Bloomberg Intelligence global head of technology research. You guys, thank you. Thank you.

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