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.
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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.
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