Intel Shares Drop 28% Following Weak Q3 Guidance Amid PC Market Slowdown
Intel (INTC) shares experienced a significant decline of over 28% following the release of its third-quarter 2026 results. While the company beat Wall Street expectations for adjusted earnings per share ($0.52 vs $0.40 expected), investor concern was triggered by cautious forward guidance. Intel projected revenue between $15 billion and $16 billion with an EPS of $0.25, falling short of analyst estimates of $17.1 billion in revenue and $0.43 in earnings. The downturn is primarily attributed to a slowdown in the personal computer (PC) segment, where client computing revenue fell 5% year-over-year due to high component costs impacting IT budgets. However, this weakness is being offset by massive growth in Intel's Data Center and AI (DCAI) segment, which saw revenue surge 78% to $7.3 billion. The company expects its custom AI processor business to continue rapid expansion as demand for server CPUs remains high.
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