Intel can't complain about a lack of help. Even with Nvidia , SoftBank , and the US government on its side to help it emerge from the worst crisis in its history and regain prominence in the microprocessor market, the company is once again disappointing.
The figures for the fourth quarter of 2025 and projections for the first quarter of 2026 show that the recovery will be long and painful, testing the (limited) patience of investors.
The situation is weighing on stocks on Friday, January 23. Around 4:33 PM, shares were down 17.9%, at $44.61, marking the worst intraday drop since August 2024, according to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) .
Intel ended the fourth quarter with a loss of US$333 million, almost 2.2 times greater than that recorded in the same period of 2024.
In addition to representing a strong increase, the result for the last three months of 2025 exceeded the US$294 million loss expected by the market, according to FactSet. Revenue, however, fell 4.2% in the period, to US$13.7 billion.
To make matters worse, Intel projects a loss per share of $0.21 in the first quarter of 2026, up from a loss of $0.12 in the previous quarter. Revenue is expected to be between $11.7 billion and $12.7 billion.
Performance was impacted by the volume of investments to expand production of newer chips , but investors are especially disappointed by inventory shortages, which limit the ability to capitalize on growing demand for data centers .
Cloud computing giants, which are investing heavily in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, are also upgrading older server lines. Intel, however, has shown itself unprepared to take advantage of this moment.
In the earnings call, executives admitted to underestimating demand. "I'm disappointed that we weren't able to fully meet the needs of our markets," said CEO Lip-Bu Tan , according to the WSJ . "We're on a multi-year journey that will require time and determination."
Another negative factor is the slow progress of the chip foundry unit, where Intel acts as a third-party manufacturer. This segment had an operating loss of over US$10 billion in 2025 and needs a large client to be viable.
According to the WSJ , recent rumors indicate that Intel has secured at least one major client, but executives stated that any announcement is still some time away. "We believe that customers will begin making firm decisions about suppliers starting in the second half of this year and extending into the first half of 2027," said Tan.
Synonymous with microprocessors in the 1990s, Intel failed to keep up with market evolution. It lost ground to Asian rivals in the race for more powerful chips with smaller transistors.
It also failed to make its products the top choice for smartphone manufacturers and suffered from Apple 's decision in 2020 to no longer use its chips, in addition to the decline in computer sales in recent years.
To top it all off, Intel failed to keep up with the AI revolution, which changed the demand for chips and increased the demand for GPUs, dominated by Nvidia.
Aiming to make up for lost time, the company is reviewing operations and divesting assets. In April, it sold its controlling stake in Altera , a producer of programmable chips, to Silver Lake for US$4.46 billion.
The company also received external support, including from the American government, which became its largest shareholder by converting US$9 billion in subsidies into a 10% stake in the capital.
Intel signed an agreement with Nvidia to jointly develop chips and received a $2 billion investment from SoftBank in August, which boosted its shares, trading around $23 at the time.
Since then, the shares have more than doubled in price, accumulating a 106.7% increase in 12 months, bringing the company's market value to US$212.8 billion.
