Latest news with #Xeon6
Business Insider
19-07-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Intel (INTC) Investors Stay Torn Between Dead Money Doubts and Recovery Hopes
Intel's (INTC) stock has been stuck in the mud, trading at depressed, multi-year-low levels of around $22 today, all while the broader semiconductor industry is on fire, with names like NVIDIA (NVDA) and TSMC (TSM) soaring. Despite the stock appearing like a value play here, Intel's issues, such as fierce competition, a struggling foundry business, and macroeconomic headwinds, are weighing heavily. Elevate Your Investing Strategy: Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence. Make smarter investment decisions with TipRanks' Smart Investor Picks, delivered to your inbox every week. There are glimmers of hope, such as new AI products and cost-cutting efforts, but for now, the negatives overshadow any bullish case, making INTC a risky bet, even as a value play. Given the sorry state of affairs this stock finds itself in, I remain warily Neutral on INTC with a bearish bias. Why Intel's Stock Is Languishing Intel has been navigating a challenging period, and the bearish sentiment is far from unwarranted. AMD has steadily eroded its dominance in the CPU space, with Intel's server CPU market share falling to around 60% in 2024, down from over 80% a decade ago. Meanwhile, its foundry ambitions, aimed at rivaling TSMC, have become a financial drag. The division reported a staggering $7 billion loss on $18.9 billion in revenue in 2023, followed by another $4.3 billion in losses in 2024. The company's profit margin profile is also dismal, with gross margins at about 33% over the past 12 months, down from roughly 34%, 42%, and 45% in FY2024, FY2023, and FY2022, respectively. Geopolitical risks are another gut punch, as tariffs could further erode margin over the near to medium term. Some Reasons to Stay Hopeful Now, look, it's not all bad news. Intel's latest earnings displayed some resilience, with $12.7 billion in revenue topping estimates of $12.25 billion and adjusted EPS of $0.13, which surpassed forecasts of a break-even result. The Data Center and AI segment grew 8% year-over-year to $4.1 billion, a sign that Intel's AI pivot, including the Xeon 6 processor with a 1.9x performance leap for AI workloads and upcoming Panther Lake chips, is starting to click. Intel's also leaning into U.S. manufacturing, with $50 billion invested in domestic plants and $7.86 billion from the CHIPS Act, which could shine if U.S.-focused policies gain traction. Lip-Bu Tan, Intel's new CEO, is also bringing a fresh vibe, aiming to cut $500 million from 2025 operating expenses (down to $17 billion) and aiming for $16 billion in 2026. His push for a 'startup mindset' with less bureaucracy and more engineering could spark innovation. Intel's AI PC strategy is another potential win, with plans to ship 100 million AI PCs by year-end, assuming demand picks up. These are solid steps, but they need to deliver. Excessive Risk Suggests a Pass on INTC Despite a few encouraging signs, Intel is still falling behind in a semiconductor market that's otherwise surging. NVIDIA has a firm grip on the AI chip space, and TSMC's manufacturing edge is hard to beat. With NVIDIA's CUDA platform and Blackwell chips setting the tone, Intel's decision to outsource key products like Lunar Lake to TSMC only highlights how much ground it has to make up in its foundry ambitions. Losses are expected to persist until at least 2030, and Intel's Q2 2025 revenue guidance of $11.2-$12.4 billion fell short of the $12.82 billion consensus. Another outlook miss is likely in Q3, given macro risks, especially given the tariffs. Meanwhile, the stock's low price-to-sales ratio screams value (at 2x this year's expected sales). This is counterbalanced by a forward P/E of 78x on this year's expected earnings, which, again, reflects shaky earnings and high risk. Of course, the P/E falls to a more reasonable 29x on 2026's rebound potential to $0.80. Still, that's a high P/E ratio given the current risk Intel faces in the semiconductor landscape. Additionally, Intel's significant $28.6 billion net debt position further adds to the reasons to avoid the stock. Even if Intel manages to recover and generate noteworthy profits, it will be a while before investors see tangible capital returns, as management will likely prioritize deleveraging first. Is Intel a Buy, Sell, or Hold? Currently, analysts remain skeptical about INTC's investment case. The stock carries a Hold consensus rating, based on one Buy, 26 Holds, and four Sell ratings assigned over the past three months. Today, INTC's average stock price target of $21.60 implies roughly 5% downside potential over the next twelve months. In fact, the only bullish analyst on Wall Street is Gus Richard from Northland Securities, who expects INTC stock to hit $28 within 12 months. Intel: A Cheap Stock with a Pricey Set of Problems In short, Intel's story is one of potential buried under a mountain of problems. Yes, there are flickers of innovation and strategic pivoting, from AI PCs to domestic fabs, but execution risk remains sky-high. For every green shoot, there's a red flag, like underwhelming guidance, foundry losses, stiff competition, and debt that can't be ignored. At $22, the stock appears to be cheap, but cheap doesn't always mean it's investable. Until Intel proves it can consistently deliver on growth, profitability, and innovation, this remains a 'show-me' story in a market that rewards execution, not promises.
New York Post
18-06-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Intel set to lay off around 10,000 workers — despite getting $2.2B in CHIPS Act funds under Biden
Struggling chip giant Intel is reportedly preparing to slash up to 20% of its global workforce next month — despite the company receiving more than $2 billion in federal funding under former President Biden's signature CHIPS Act. The scale of the layoffs, amounting to around 10,000 workers, was disclosed in an internal email viewed by The Oregonian/OregonLive and confirmed by four Intel employees who spoke to the online news outlet. 'These are difficult actions but essential to meet our affordability challenges and current financial position of the company. It drives pain to every individual,' Naga Chandrasekaran, Intel's vice president of manufacturing, reportedly wrote in the memo sent to employees on Saturday. The anticipated reductions are scheduled to begin in weeks and will reportedly affect Intel Foundry, the company's internal manufacturing division that specializes in producing semiconductors for external customers. 4 A factory worker in Costa Rica displays an Intel Xeon 6 processor in June 2024. Intel Corporation The unit includes a wide spectrum of jobs — from factory technicians to engineers and researchers who design future generations of chips. Intel was awarded $7.9 billion in federal subsidies last year to support US-based semiconductor manufacturing under the CHIPS Act. The company received $2.2 billion before the remainder was frozen pending a review by the newly-elected Trump administration. The looming cuts come on top of the 15,000 jobs across its global operations last year — after Intel was awarded the CHIPS Act funds — amid declining demand for PCs and servers and setbacks in developing high-end chips for artificial intelligence applications. The company has already postponed the opening of its $10 billion Ohio factory until 2030, citing insufficient demand. Intel shares have dropped nearly 30% over the past 12 months, trading at around $21.50 on Wednesday. 4 Intel, the tech company headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., is set to slash up to 20% of its factory workforce, according to a report. Bloomberg via Getty Images It ousted CEO Pat Gelsinger in March and brought in semiconductor veteran Lip-Bu Tan, who has emphasized streamlining operations, cutting bureaucracy and accelerating innovation. 'While I'm sure tariffs have some impact on Intel's layoffs, this is actually pretty simple — these layoffs are largely due to the financial challenges Intel is facing in terms of declining revenues,' Matt Kimball, principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, told tech industry publication Network World. Intel first disclosed its intent to reduce headcount in April, but had not specified the depth of the layoffs until now. Chandrasekaran indicated to The Oregonian/OregonLive that the cuts would not involve voluntary buyouts this time. Instead, Intel will make decisions based on performance evaluations, strategic priorities, and operational needs. 'These reductions will be based on a combination of portfolio changes, level and position elimination, skill assessment for remaining positions, and some hard decisions around our project investments,' he wrote. 'We are also taking into consideration factory operations impact.' The Post has sought comment from Intel. 4 The factory workforce in Oregon may be especially hard-hit. Intel is the state's largest private employer, with 20,000 workers. The image above shows the Intel factory in Hillsboro, Ore. Intel Corporation The factory workforce in Oregon may be especially hard-hit. Intel is the state's largest private employer, with 20,000 workers. The company also operates major manufacturing facilities in Arizona, New Mexico, Israel, Ireland and Malaysia. Oregon granted Intel $115 million in state incentives, which may be clawed back if the company fails to meet job creation or tax revenue targets tied to a planned expansion of its D1X facility in Hillsboro. Intel declined to comment to The Oregonian/OregonLive on Chandrasekaran's memo specifically but said the company remains focused on handling the transition respectfully. 'We will treat people with care and respect as we complete this important work,' the company stated. 4 While Intel has not broken out a precise number, industry analysts and former employees suggest that roughly 25% to 35% of Intel's workforce of 109,000 people is factory-based. Intel Corporation 'Removing organizational complexity and empowering our engineers will enable us to better serve the needs of our customers and strengthen our execution.' Intel does not disclose exactly how many of its employees work in factory or manufacturing roles, but estimates can be drawn from its overall workforce and known operations. As of the end of 2024, the company reported having 109,000 employees globally. A significant share of those workers are part of Intel Foundry. Intel's largest manufacturing hub is located in Oregon, where it employs approximately 20,000 people. However, not all of those are directly involved in factory work. The company also operates major manufacturing facilities in Arizona, New Mexico, Israel, Ireland and Malaysia.
Yahoo
17-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
AMD Transforms Into Fierce Competition for Intel in Data Centers
AMD is heavily pressuring Intel in the server CPU market, thanks to the guidance of AMD Chair and CEO Dr. Lisa Su. As Wccftech notes, the company has gone from having no server CPU market share in 2017 to approaching 40% this year. AMD could be on track to hit 50% market share in fewer than 10 years from entering the space. That's a shocking success on AMD's part, and although there are many reasons for its success, a few stand out. The most obvious source of AMD's success in challenging Intel for data center CPU share is Su. As the company's chair and CEO, Su oversaw multiple successes for AMD, including the rise of its Epyc CPUs, which challenged Intel's Xeon processors. Writing for ExtremeTech in 2019, Joel Hruska noted that Epyc processors were better-positioned to gain market share than AMD's previous major challenge to Intel in this segment. Credit: AMD 'In 2005, AMD's dual cores matched Intel on core count, outperformed Intel clock-for-clock and core-for-core, and were quite expensive,' Hruska wrote. In 2019, AMD went for the trifecta, with higher performance, more cores, and lower per-core pricing. It's the most serious assault on Intel's high-end Xeon market that the company has ever launched.' As AMD continued to produce successful Epyc processors and related products (such as its Instinct GPUs), its market share surged. According to DigiTimes Asia, AMD snagged 25% of the server processor segment by 2023. Now, with its segment market share at 39.4%, the chance to break even with Intel—and possibly overtake it—is in sight. Obviously, AMD's success in the server CPU segment is resulting in massive revenue. In the first quarter of 2025 alone, AMD's data center segment brought in $3.7 billion, which marked a 57% year-over-year increase. In its quarterly report, AMD attributed that growth to its Epyc and Instinct sales. Credit: Intel Intel has struggled during this time. Its former CEO, Pat Gelsinger, focused heavily on rebuilding the company's chip manufacturing capabilities, but his tenure came to an end in late 2024. Still, Intel is addressing AMD's gains. Early this year, it dropped the prices on its Xeon 6 CPUs by as much as 30%. The move kept many Xeons priced above AMD's CPUs, but made them more competitive. And the arrival of Intel's new CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, could mark a turning point for the chipmaker. But with AMD's sustained momentum in the CPU server segment, Intel will need to move quickly.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Intel XEON 6 Gaining Solid Market Traction: Will the Uptrend Persist?
Intel Corporation INTC is witnessing healthy demand for its Xeon 6 processor in high-performance computing ('HPC') and AI-driven workloads. The new Intel Xeon 6 processors with Performance-cores are engineered to support the huge demand for high AI workloads across diverse sectors. The solution's built-in accelerators support virtualized radio access networks, media, AI and network security. This matches the growing demand for network and edge solutions in the AI ecosystem. The company also integrated Priority Core Turbo ('PCT') technology and Intel Speed Select Technology – Turbo Frequency (SST-TF). The technology dynamically prioritizes certain performance cores, allowing them to run at higher turbo frequencies, and in parallel, lower priority cores operate at a base frequency. PCT paired with SST-TF optimizes utilization of CPU resources, enhancing performance of graphical processing units for the most demanding AI processor offers significantly faster memory performance at high-capacity configurations compared with its competitor Advanced Micro Devices' AMD EPYC processor. Up to 128 P-cores per CPU facilitate a balanced workload distribution for AI tasks. With the most efficient data processing and transfer capabilities, these CPUs are built for maximum uptime with unmatched reliability and cutting-edge feature suite is giving Intel a competitive edge over its competitors, such as AMD. The growing demand for processors based on Arm Holdings ARM architecture is also intensifying the competition. Arm's architecture offers energy efficiency with cost effectiveness, which is increasingly used by Apple, Qualcomm and Ampere. The company is actively collaborating with developers to optimize AI-ML workloads in its CPUs. Google Cloud also leveraged Arm-based processors for Axion chips for data centers. On the other hand, AMD EPYC 9005 series, engineered with very high core counts, is also gaining solid momentum. The company's partnership with leading hyperscalers such as Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and Google Cloud is driving demand for AMD EYPC such competition, Intel is taking several initiatives to gain a firmer footing in the expansive AI sector, which spans cloud and enterprise servers, networks, volume clients and ubiquitous edge environments, in tune with the evolving market dynamics. Introduction of cutting-edge features in the Intel Xeon 6 processors in recent months is aligned with that broader strategy. Intel Xeon 6 has been selected as the host CPU for NVIDIA's latest generation of AI-accelerated systems, the DGX B300. The endorsement of NVIDIA accentuates the growing prowess of Intel chips for AI-accelerated systems. Recently, Imperial College London selected Intel XEON 6 to power its new HX2 supercomputer. Intel CPU will support high-performance computing and AI requirements for research in a wide range of fields, including engineering, natural sciences, medicine, business and others. Intel has plunged 32.4% over the past year against the industry's growth of 7.3%. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Going by the price/book ratio, the company's shares currently trade at 0.85 book value, lower than 31.35 of the industry and its mean of 0.88. It carries a Value Score of D. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Earnings estimates for Intel for 2025 and 2026 have declined 40.8% to 29 cents per share and 31.2% to 77 cents, respectively, over the past year. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Intel stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Intel Corporation (INTC) : Free Stock Analysis Report Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) : Free Stock Analysis Report ARM Holdings PLC Sponsored ADR (ARM) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Intel vs. Advanced Micro: Which Chipmaker is the Better Buy Now?
Intel Corporation INTC and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. AMD are two premier semiconductor firms competing in the CPU market, with both focusing on AI (artificial intelligence) and advanced chip technologies. Intel, reportedly the world's largest semiconductor company and primary supplier of microprocessors and chipsets, is gradually reducing its dependence on the PC-centric business by moving into data-centric businesses, such as AI and autonomous driving. The foundry operating model is a key component of the company's strategy and is designed to reshape operational dynamics and drive greater transparency, accountability and focus on costs and Micro has strengthened its position in the semiconductor market on the back of its evolution as an enterprise-focused company from a pure-bred consumer-PC chip provider. Its processors are primarily powered by the company's proprietary "Zen" CPU and "Vega" GPU architectures. The company's acquisition of Xilinx has helped in expanding into multiple embedded markets. AMD now offers Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), Adaptive SoCs and Adaptive Compute Acceleration Platform (ACAP) products. With growing AI proliferation in PCs, smartphones, automotive and IoT applications, both Intel and Advanced Micro are steadily advancing their semiconductor portfolio to bolster their competitive edge. Let us analyze in depth the competitive strengths and weaknesses of the companies to understand who is in a better position to maximize gains from the emerging market trends. Intel is strategically investing to expand its manufacturing capacity to accelerate its IDM 2.0 (Integrated Device Manufacturing) strategy. The company is undertaking various strategic decisions to gain a firmer footing in the expansive AI sector. Its latest Xeon 6 processors with Performance-cores (P-Cores) can support large AI workloads across diverse sectors. With industry-leading capabilities in AI processing, the Xeon 6 family delivers the industry's best CPU for AI at a lower total cost of ownership. Intel's innovative AI solutions are set to benefit the broader semiconductor ecosystem by driving down costs, improving performance and fostering an open, scalable AI environment. The company has received $7.86 billion in direct funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce for its commercial semiconductor manufacturing projects under the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act. The funds will support Intel in advancing critical semiconductor manufacturing and advanced packaging projects in Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio and Oregon, likely paving the way for innovation and Intel derives a significant part of its revenues from China. As Washington tightens restrictions on high-tech exports to China, Beijing has intensified its push for self-sufficiency in critical industries. This shift poses a dual challenge for Intel, as it faces potential market restrictions and increased competition from domestic chipmakers. The company is also lagging behind in the GPU and AI front compared to peers such as NVIDIA Corporation NVDA and AMD. Leading technology companies are reportedly piling up NVIDIA's GPUs to build clusters of computers for their AI work, leading to exponential revenue growth. AMD is strengthening its footprint in the AI market through an expanding portfolio. The latest MI300 series accelerator family strengthens its competitive position in the generative AI space. The accelerator is based on AMD CDNA 3 accelerator architecture and supports up to 192 GB of HBM3 memory, enabling efficient running of large language model training (up to 80 billion parameters) and inference for generative AI workloads. It is also benefiting from strong enterprise adoption and expanded cloud addition, strength in 7-nanometer-based processors is expected to strengthen the company's competitive position in the commercial and server market against Intel. AMD is currently leveraging Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's 7 nm process technology, which is enabling it to deliver its advanced 7 nm chips faster to market. AMD Radeon RX 7900 series chiplet design combines 5 nm and 6 nm process nodes, each optimized for specific chips in the in the traditional computing market, which still generates a chunk of its revenues, AMD is up against Intel's strong market position. With Intel systems so well entrenched, there is an obvious preference for system integrators to choose Intel processors over AMD. Moreover, AMD faces significant competition from NVIDIA in the GPU market. AMD has had relatively greater success in the mobile segment and its current product lineup indicates that this focus will continue. However, competition in the mobile segment is likely to accelerate, with more ARM-based devices coming on the market. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Intel's 2025 sales implies a year-over-year decline of 4.3%, while that of EPS indicates growth of 323.1%. The EPS estimates have been trending southward on average over the past 60 days. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Advanced Micro's 2025 sales suggests year-over-year growth of 23.3%, while that for EPS implies a rise of 22.7%. The EPS estimates have been trending southward over the past 60 days. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Over the past year, Intel has declined 33.8% against the industry's growth of 14.1%. AMD has lost 33.2% over the same period. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Intel looks more attractive than Advanced Micro from a valuation standpoint. Going by the price/sales ratio, Intel's shares currently trade at 1.74 forward sales, significantly lower than 5.48 for AMD. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Both Intel and Advanced Micro carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks companies expect their earnings to improve in 2025. However, Intel expects a decline in revenues contrary to that of AMD. Over the years, AMD has shown steady revenue and EPS growth, while Intel has been facing a bumpy road with a downhill slope. With a healthy long-term earnings growth expectation of 24.5%, Advanced Micro is relatively better placed than Intel (long-term earnings growth expectations of 10.5%), although the former is a bit expensive in terms of valuation metrics. Consequently, Advanced Micro seems to be a better investment option at the moment. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Intel Corporation (INTC) : Free Stock Analysis Report Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) : Free Stock Analysis Report NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research
