Bloomberg Tech – "Intel Earnings Signal Possible Comeback"

Date: October 24, 2025
Hosts: Caroline Hyde (New York), Ed Ludlow (San Francisco)

Overview of Episode Theme

This episode focuses chiefly on Intel’s latest earnings report and its implications for the company’s much-awaited turnaround, returning to profitability and showing green shoots in several core markets. The hosts discuss broader tech market dynamics, including data center financing, quantum computing breakthroughs, notable debt offerings, and emerging players in global AI. The episode features in-depth interviews and analysis from industry experts, including Mistral’s CEO on new AI platforms, and key commentary on Amazon’s cloud struggles.

Intel Earnings: A Potential Comeback

Key Segment: Intel’s Post-Earnings Landscape

[01:36–05:26]

• Intel reported a return to profitability and issued an upbeat revenue forecast.

  • The stock initially surged over 7%, then settled flat, reflecting market uncertainty about the depth of Intel’s turnaround.
  • Ed Ludlow [02:25]: “Intel's post earnings rally is basically completely faked… but profitable for the first time in a long time on a net income basis.”

• Kanjan Sobhani (Bloomberg Intelligence, semiconductors analyst) offers nuanced optimism:

  • The PC market is performing better than expected.
  • Early signs of increasing demand in servers and, to a lesser extent, foundries.
  • Gross margins are still under pressure with challenges such as the ramp-up of the new 18A node and exiting the high-margin Altera business.
  • Kanjan Sobhani [03:16]: “This result shows the first sign in the right direction. Sort of a turnaround, a beginning of a turnaround… when you peel the onion, we like what they're doing.”

• The structural transition includes moving production for 18A from Oregon to Arizona, which should eventually help with cost efficiencies.

• On server demand:

  • The company’s CFO was surprised by stronger-than-expected unit growth as hyperscalers accelerate refreshing their CPU infrastructure.
  • Kanjan Sobhani [04:50]: “We have seen signs of this in other markets… it is a credible story to believe that the need for CPU, even outside AI servers, is going to increase now.”

Debt Markets & Tech Infrastructure Financing

Key Segment: Oracle-Linked Data Center Debt & Market Signals

[05:26–10:38]

• A record $38 billion debt offering is being prepared to fund data centers for Oracle, led by JP Morgan and MUFG.

• The debt is being undertaken by Vantage Data Centers, not Oracle itself, highlighting new financing models for cloud infrastructure.

• Kanjan Sobhani [06:12]: This is similar to asset-backed securitization, with future revenue contracts as collateral.

• The transaction offers 2.5 percentage points over benchmark yields, highlighting growing investor appetite—not just for equity, but for tech-related debt as well.

Market Caution & Bubble Concerns

• Martin Norton (Empower) expresses caution about the rapid expansion of tech-related debt offerings.
• The Bank of England is probing such lending for risk of a tech bubble.
• Martin Norton [09:11]: “When you think about this scale of investment… it does argue that we're going to have to use a broader range of financing… That's the signal that folks are looking for, that there is an AI bubble now.”

Diversification & Valuations

• AI exposure is still primarily an equity story, but there are yield opportunities in debt for active credit managers.
• Most tech sectors are at extreme valuation levels (9th or 10th historical deciles), but healthcare is cited as more attractively priced.
• Martin Norton [12:36]: "Trade talks are the toddler that just won't go to bed… this is something that will … linger volatility within the market."

Quantum Computing Milestone: Google’s Breakthrough

Key Segment: Quantum Leap

[20:02–24:36]

• Google’s Quantum AI COO Karina Chow explains the significance:

  • Achieved a 13,000x speedup on their Willow chip versus best available classic supercomputers, using verifiable quantum algorithms.
  • Demonstrated progress on error correction, but fault-tolerant quantum computing is still years away.
  • Karina Chow [21:27]: "That is the goal … to get to fault-tolerant quantum computing. Nobody is there yet. It is a long journey, but it is very exciting."
  • The aim is to scale from 105 qubits (current) to 1 million qubits for solving commercial problems in chemistry, physics, and materials sciences.

• US government investment and partnership are seen as vital for the quantum ecosystem.

• Caroline Hyde [23:34]: "Our mission at Google Quantum AI is to build quantum computing for otherwise unsolvable problems.”

Mistral AI: New Platform and Strategy

Key Segment: European AI Ambitions

[37:12–46:12]

• Arthur Mensch (CEO, Mistral) on launching an integrated platform, "AI Studio," for enterprises:

  • Focus on enabling clients to retain IP and run vertically integrated, portable AI on-premises or private cloud.
  • Arthur Mensch [38:35]: "In contrast with some of our competitors, we really believe that enterprises should build their own AI, that they should own the systems, that the IP should remain their own…"

• Rapid prototyping to deployment: Shared a major logistics client built a global-scale AI-driven process in just four months.

  • Arthur Mensch [39:55]: “It takes a quarter to go from a prototype to production. For it to happen, you need to have the right tools… experts… understand what AI agents can do.”

• On US and global expansion:

  • Working with Cisco, Snowflake, Microsoft, AWS, and GCP.

• On infrastructure/compute:

  • Fast-growing "Mistral Compute" unit to address GPU/data center needs in Europe, using both equity and traditional bank debt for financing.
  • Arthur Mensch [45:20]: “We invest on the infrastructure side in a wise way to help build Mistral a studio.”

Amazon Web Services: Struggling to Maintain Cloud Dominance

Key Segment: AWS in Transition

[46:41–48:26]

• Matt Day (Bloomberg, Amazon reporter):
  • AWS still holds ~38% of the global cloud market, down from ~50% five years ago.
    • Facing stronger competition from Microsoft, Google, and even Oracle, particularly in AI infrastructure.
    • Many AWS pioneering services now seen as commoditized.
  • Anthropic (an AI startup) is AWS's marquee AI customer, helping co-develop the Trainium chip.
    • Now has the option to shift more workloads to Google, considered a “real risk” for AWS’s future earnings.
  • Matt Day [48:00]: “You really can't overstate the importance of Anthropic to AWS. They’re their marquee artificial intelligence customer… That is a real risk or potential risk rather for Amazon's business.”

Intel Deep Dive: Is the Comeback Real?

Key Segment: Analyst Perspective

[26:33–34:36]

• Pierre Ferragu (New Street Research) on Intel’s numbers:
  • Stronger short-term demand from PC refresh and server “catch up,” but longer-term outlook is mixed.
  • Intel still faces a challenge in manufacturing yields (18A node), and foundry competitiveness versus TSMC is uncertain.
  • Pierre Ferragu [28:24]: “Comments about the yield … are very, very mixed. Let's face it, the yields are not good today.”
  • Realistic about Intel’s strategic strengths: x86 CPUs and packaging, not GPU leadership.
  • Pierre Ferragu [30:23]: “Maybe it doesn't sound hugely exciting, but it sounds very realistic and really playing to Intel's strength.”
  • Intel must build long-lasting coalitions with government, partners, and clients for US-based advanced chip manufacturing.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Caroline Hyde on US-Canada trade volatility [12:36]:

  “Trade talks are the toddler that just won't go to bed… this is something that will be this kind of lingering volatility within the market.”

• Karina Chow (Google Quantum AI) [21:27]:

  "Nobody is there yet. It is a long journey, but it is very exciting."

• Arthur Mensch (Mistral) [38:35]:

  “We really believe that enterprises should own the systems... and the IP should remain their own, the data should remain where it is…”

• Matt Day (on AWS) [48:00]:

  “You really can't overstate the importance of Anthropic to AWS.”

Key Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment | Notable Content | |-----------|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------| | 01:36 | Show kickoff | Intel’s profitability, macro market context | | 03:16 | Intel analysis w/ Kanjan Sobhani | Gross margins, turnaround prospects | | 06:12 | Debt market roundtable | Oracle data center debt — implications | | 20:02 | Google quantum computing | Quantum “13,000x” breakthrough, vision | | 26:33 | Pierre Ferragu on Intel | AMD rivalry, server/PC insights, yields | | 37:12 | Mistral CEO Arthur Mensch | AI Studio launch, enterprise AI | | 46:41 | AWS market analysis with Matt Day | Cloud dominance slipping, Anthropic risk |

Conclusion

This edition of Bloomberg Tech delivers a comprehensive analysis of Intel's tentative return to form, exploring both numerical performance and structural transformation. The episode situates Intel's news within larger technology market currents, including infrastructure financing, the AI-fueled cloud arms race, and quantum computing advances. Feature interviews provide a rare inside look into Mistral's enterprise AI ambitions and Google's quantum vision, while cautionary notes are sounded about debt-fueled bubbles and the shifting dominance in big tech. The tone is brisk, analytical, and forward-looking, targeting listeners keen to grasp the intersecting market, technical, and policy dimensions of the week’s top tech stories.