Intel Corp on Thursday reported a fourth-quarter loss but better-than-expected revenue as the US chip giant continues to struggle to stake its place in the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution.
The company posted a net loss of US$126 million for the December quarter, compared with a profit of US$2.67 billion in the same period last year. Revenue declined 7 percent to US$14.3 billion, which was slightly better than expected by analysts. The company’s share price rose 2 percent in after-hours trading following the earnings release.
“While Intel’s revenue decline remains concerning, the overall results came in ahead of the most pessimistic forecasts, possibly propped by broader market and geopolitical factors,” Emarketer analyst Jacob Bourne said.
Photo: Reuters
For the full year, Intel recorded a substantial net loss of US$18.8 billion, compared to a profit of US$1.7 billion in 2023, largely due to restructuring charges and challenging market conditions.
Intel chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger was forced out last month after the board lost confidence in his plans to turn the company around.
His abrupt departure came after the company in August last year vowed to cut more than 15,000 jobs in a draconian cost reduction plan, and paused or delayed construction on several chipmaking facilities.
Intel’s shares fell 60 percent last year, and its market valuation is about US$90 billion, just a fraction of Nvidia Corp, which makes the premium graphics processing units (GPUs) that are fueling the AI boom.
Despite the losses, interim co-CEO Michelle Johnston Holthaus highlighted positive developments.
“The fourth quarter was a positive step forward as we delivered revenue, gross margin and EPS above our guidance,” Holthaus said.
She told analysts during an earnings call that Intel could find opportunities to capitalize on buzz generated this week by Chinese start-up DeepSeek (深度求索), with its powerful new chatbot developed at a fraction of the cost of its US competitors.
“Because if we’ve seen anything this week, when there are constraints put on customers, they figure out different ways to deploy technology,” Holthaus said when asked about DeepSeek.
Intel has chips and other assets it can “leverage” to win over customers looking to power AI without having to resort to premium Nvidia GPUs, Holthaus said.
“That’s a great opportunity, and something that I’m looking at to see if there are ways that we can be disruptive there,” Holthaus said.
The company’s Client Computing Group, which includes PC chips, saw revenue fall 9 percent to US$8 billion in the fourth quarter. However, Intel reported strong momentum in AI components for PCs, saying it is on track to ship more than 100 million AI PCs by the end of this year.
Intel has been engaged with the new administration of US President Donald Trump and “feels good” about the effort to promote chipmaking in the US, co-chief executive David Zinsner said. “This is a very positive sign, obviously, for us.”
The earnings report came as Intel continues its search for a permanent CEO.
DIVIDED VIEWS: Although the Fed agreed on holding rates steady, some officials see no rate cuts for this year, while 10 policymakers foresee two or more cuts There are a lot of unknowns about the outlook for the economy and interest rates, but US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled at least one thing seems certain: Higher prices are coming. Fed policymakers voted unanimously to hold interest rates steady at a range of 4.25 percent to 4.50 percent for a fourth straight meeting on Wednesday, as they await clarity on whether tariffs would leave a one-time or more lasting mark on inflation. Powell said it is still unclear how much of the bill would fall on the shoulders of consumers, but he expects to learn more about tariffs
Meta Platforms Inc offered US$100 million bonuses to OpenAI employees in an unsuccessful bid to poach the ChatGPT maker’s talent and strengthen its own generative artificial intelligence (AI) teams, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said. Facebook’s parent company — a competitor of OpenAI — also offered “giant” annual salaries exceeding US$100 million to OpenAI staffers, Altman said in an interview on the Uncapped with Jack Altman podcast released on Tuesday. “It is crazy,” Sam Altman told his brother Jack in the interview. “I’m really happy that at least so far none of our best people have decided to take them
PLANS: MSI is also planning to upgrade its service center in the Netherlands Micro-Star International Co (MSI, 微星) yesterday said it plans to set up a server assembly line at its Poland service center this year at the earliest. The computer and peripherals manufacturer expects that the new server assembly line would shorten transportation times in shipments to European countries, a company spokesperson told the Taipei Times by telephone. MSI manufactures motherboards, graphics cards, notebook computers, servers, optical storage devices and communication devices. The company operates plants in Taiwan and China, and runs a global network of service centers. The company is also considering upgrading its service center in the Netherlands into a
NOT JUSTIFIED: The bank’s governor said there would only be a rate cut if inflation falls below 1.5% and economic conditions deteriorate, which have not been detected The central bank yesterday kept its key interest rates unchanged for a fifth consecutive quarter, aligning with market expectations, while slightly lowering its inflation outlook amid signs of cooling price pressures. The move came after the US Federal Reserve held rates steady overnight, despite pressure from US President Donald Trump to cut borrowing costs. Central bank board members unanimously voted to maintain the discount rate at 2 percent, the secured loan rate at 2.375 percent and the overnight lending rate at 4.25 percent. “We consider the policy decision appropriate, although it suggests tightening leaning after factoring in slackening inflation and stable GDP growth,”
RSS