Intel gave investors something they have been waiting for: a quarter where the AI boom showed up clearly in the numbers.
Premarket trading data showed Intel shares rose more than 4% on Friday after the U.S. chipmaker reported its fastest quarterly revenue growth in more than 15 years and issued a stronger sales forecast than Wall Street expected.
The company reported adjusted second-quarter earnings of 42 cents a share, above analysts’ expectations of 21 cents. Revenue rose 25% from a year earlier to $16.13 billion, beating the $14.33 billion consensus estimate.
For the current quarter, Intel forecast revenue of $15.8 billion to $16.8 billion. Analysts had expected $15.1 billion. The company also projected adjusted earnings of 38 cents a share.
The beat came as CEO Lip-Bu Tan tries to push Intel deeper into AI infrastructure, servers and chip manufacturing. Intel said its data center and AI business led the quarter, with revenue rising 59% to $6.3 billion. Client computing and physical AI revenue rose 13% to $8.9 billion, while foundry revenue increased 31% to $5.8 billion.
Markets are watching whether Intel can turn AI demand into lasting growth while funding a costly manufacturing push. The company raised its expected full-year capital spending to more than $20 billion, up from a previous forecast of $18 billion, and said spending next year would exceed 2026.
Analysts cited by major financial outlets argued the result showed investors may still be early in the AI cycle. “What’s going on is much bigger than Intel,” Deepwater Management’s Gene Munster said.
The company also launched new rack-scale AI systems, introduced its Xeon 6+ server processor and announced work with partners including Foxconn, Siemens and Fortinet.
