Intel's $8.5B Government Windfall Fails To Stop 15,000 Layoffs At Chipmaker
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Aug 07 2024
0mins
Source: Benzinga
Intel Workforce Reduction: Intel Corp plans to cut 15% of its workforce, approximately 15,000 jobs, as part of a restructuring plan after receiving $8.5 billion in federal grants from the CHIPS and Science Act aimed at boosting semiconductor development.
Financial Challenges: The company's CEO stated that the decision is necessary due to disappointing revenue growth and high costs, with second-quarter revenue reported at $12.8 billion, down 1% from the previous year, and a loss per share of $0.38.
Trade with 70% Backtested Accuracy
Stop guessing "Should I Buy INTC?" and start using high-conviction signals backed by rigorous historical data.
Sign up today to access powerful investing tools and make smarter, data-driven decisions.
Analyst Views on INTC
Wall Street analysts forecast INTC stock price to fall
29 Analyst Rating
5 Buy
19 Hold
5 Sell
Hold
Current: 117.050
Low
20.00
Averages
39.30
High
52.00
Current: 117.050
Low
20.00
Averages
39.30
High
52.00
About INTC
Intel Corporation is a global designer and manufacturer of semiconductor products. The Company's segments include Intel Products, Intel Foundry, and All Other. Its Intel Products comprise Client Computing Group (CCG) and Data Center and AI (DCAI). CCG delivers platforms and processors that power PCs and edge devices, enabling enhanced performance, connectivity and user experience for consumer and commercial markets with capabilities that also support retail, industrial robotics and AI ecosystems at the edge. DCAI delivers workload-optimized solutions based upon its x86 architecture for data centers, including CPUs, AI accelerators, NICs, IPUs and custom ASICs, enabling performance and scalability for cloud, enterprise, telecommunication and HPC environments. The Intel Foundry segment comprises technology development, manufacturing and foundry services, developing new semiconductor process technologies and advanced packaging technologies. All Other segments include Mobileye and Other.
About the author

Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
- New Process Launch: Intel announced that its 18A manufacturing process has entered risk production, indicating the company's commitment to manufacturing and potentially attracting external customer interest, thereby enhancing its market competitiveness.
- Performance Improvement: Compared to 18A, the 18A-P delivers a 9% performance increase at the same power level or an 18% reduction in power consumption at the same processing speed, which will enhance product market appeal and meet customer demand for high-performance chips.
- Strong Customer Demand: In the first quarter, demand for Intel's central processors surged, particularly from companies offering AI services, leading to sales of chips that were originally slated for write-off, demonstrating strong market demand for its products.
- Revenue Forecast Upgrade: Intel forecasts second-quarter revenue between $13.8 billion and $14.8 billion, exceeding the market estimate of $13.07 billion, reflecting the company's robust performance in the rapidly growing AI market.
See More
- Stock Recovery: Intel's stock has surged from a low of $20 in August 2025 to around $121, marking a 228% increase year-to-date, indicating strong market recovery and investor confidence in its growth prospects.
- AI Demand Surge: The rising demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure is expected to dramatically increase the need for Intel's central processing units (CPUs), positioning the company favorably for future market opportunities and enhancing profitability.
- New Business Expansion: Intel is developing its foundry business to manufacture chips for third-party customers, and Cramer notes that with surging AI spending, more chip designers will seek U.S.-based alternative suppliers, potentially increasing Intel's market share.
- Optimistic Market Outlook: Cramer emphasizes that despite Intel's significant stock price increase, its prospects in the data center hardware sector remain optimistic, suggesting that investors should focus on future growth potential rather than past performance.
See More
- Stock Fluctuations: Intel's stock rose 4.3% on Monday, dropped on Tuesday, and rebounded on Wednesday, although it remains below the week's opening level, indicating market volatility in the semiconductor sector.
- Impact of SpaceX IPO: SpaceX's successful IPO, achieving a valuation of $2.5 trillion and raising over $80 billion in cash, is expected to lead to significant investments in semiconductors, particularly AI chips, boosting demand for Intel's products.
- AI Chip Demand: According to Lynx Equity, AI companies require substantial AI chips to train and deploy large language models, positioning Intel and Nvidia as key beneficiaries of SpaceX's spending strategy, enhancing their market presence.
- Strategic Partnership: Intel's collaboration with SpaceX to build the Terafab chip factory, which will also service Tesla, positions Intel to capitalize on the surging chip demand, potentially increasing its long-term growth prospects as a result of the SpaceX IPO phenomenon.
See More
- Portfolio Analysis: During the June Monthly Meeting, Jim Cramer and Jeff Marks provided an in-depth analysis of 35 portfolio stocks, highlighting their preference for Intel due to its significant upside potential in data center CPU growth, particularly in the context of competition with TSMC.
- Tech Giants Restructuring: Cramer noted a reordering of the 'Magnificent Seven,' with newcomers like SpaceX and the yet-to-go-public Anthropic and OpenAI emerging as formidable competitors, indicating intensified market competition, especially in the AI sector.
- Strengths of Alphabet and Apple: Alphabet is positioned advantageously in the AI era with its YouTube and Waymo businesses, while Apple leverages its ecosystem of over 2.5 billion iPhone users to strengthen its AI partnership with Alphabet, showcasing both companies' robust market positions.
- Market Dynamics and Investment Strategy: Despite challenges faced by Meta and Microsoft, Cramer advises maintaining investments in Amazon and Nvidia, believing that the latter's GPU demand will continue to grow, and that Amazon's cloud business remains highly profitable.
See More
- Strategic Transformation Success: Under the leadership of its new CEO in 2025, Intel has focused on foundry operations and AI, resulting in a 7% year-over-year revenue increase to $13.6 billion in Q1, with adjusted EPS soaring 123% to $0.29, indicating a recovery in growth momentum.
- Major Partnership Agreements: Intel has reached a preliminary agreement with Apple to manufacture some chips for its flagship devices, while also securing an order for 3 million custom Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) from Alphabet for 2028, further solidifying its position in the AI chip market.
- Analyst Optimism for the Future: Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry maintains a buy rating with a $200 price target for Intel, suggesting a potential 70% upside over the next year, while also expressing a bullish long-term outlook for Intel in the AI inference and applications market.
- Significant Market Potential: Chowdhry projects Intel's EPS will reach $10 by 2030, and if the P/E ratio remains constant, the stock price could rise 848% to $1,100, pushing its market cap to $5.57 trillion, highlighting Intel's vast potential in the AI sector.
See More
- Strategic Transformation: Under new CEO Lip-Bu Tan since early 2025, Intel has streamlined its operations to focus on foundry services and AI, resulting in a 7% year-over-year revenue increase to $13.6 billion in Q1 2026, indicating signs of recovery.
- Profitability Improvement: Intel's adjusted earnings per share (EPS) surged 123% to $0.29 in Q1, although it remains unprofitable on a GAAP basis, the company generated over $1 billion in operating cash flow, reflecting an improving financial position.
- Positive Market Outlook: Analyst Trip Chowdhry maintains a buy rating with a $200 price target for Intel, suggesting a potential upside of 70% over the next year, with projected EPS reaching $10 by 2030, which would elevate its market cap to $5 trillion.
- Shifting AI Market Dynamics: Chowdhry emphasizes that the AI market is transitioning from training to inference and applications, predicting that the inference and applications markets will be eight times larger than the training market, presenting significant growth opportunities for Intel, despite rising competition.
See More











