Intel’s worst day since the 1970s wipes $12B off the US government’s stake

Intel’s stock fell about 28% on Friday, one of its worst days ever, after the chipmaker gave a fourth-quarter outlook below analyst expectations, TechCrunch reported. The drop cut about $12 billion from the value of the US government’s Intel holding, according to CNBC figures cited by TechCrunch.

What Intel guided and why shares sank

Intel’s third-quarter earnings release, filed with the SEC on October 29, guides fourth-quarter revenue to $15.0 billion to $16.0 billion, below the $16.5 billion it reported for the third quarter. TechCrunch says analysts had been looking for about $17 billion. The release also lowers the expected gross margin to 37.1% on a GAAP basis (38.0% non-GAAP), from 43.0% GAAP in the third quarter. Guided earnings per share are $0.10 GAAP and $0.25 non-GAAP.

TechCrunch adds that Intel said heavy investment means it expects no positive cash flow. That detail comes from the outlet’s account of the earnings call, not from the release we read.

CEO Lip-Bu Tan told analysts that customers had begun signaling a PC slowdown because of memory prices and availability, according to TechCrunch. CFO David Zinsner said in the release that the PC slowdown will last “at least through the first half of next year.”

Data center growth could not offset the PC drag

The quarter itself was not weak. Revenue was $16.5 billion, up 21% from a year earlier. The Data Center and AI unit brought in $7.3 billion, up 78%, which Zinsner called the strongest data center growth in 15 years. Client computing, the PC business, fell 5% to $8.1 billion. Our earlier report on the results has the full segment breakdown.

Tan said in the release that demand for Intel’s server CPUs remains strong and that the priority is to unlock more supply. TechCrunch notes that Intel is limited here until it adds fab capacity and wins more outside customers, competing with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. One new Arizona fab is running, but the next is not expected online until 2028, the outlet reports.

Reaction numbers differ, and the stake is still in profit

The size of the move depends on the time window. Earlier coverage put the decline at 16% to 20% on October 29, including CNBC and the Financial Times. Techmeme, summarizing CNBC, says Intel closed down 28.58% on Friday, its worst day since the 1970s. We have not independently confirmed the closing figure. The sources we read do not explain how the earlier percentages relate to Friday’s close.

The government bought a 10% stake more than a year ago under the Trump administration, TechCrunch says. Even after Friday, the shares are up more than 70% for the year, so the holding remains profitable, and the outlet says the same holds for Nvidia, which also took a large stake in 2025. Nvidia’s stock slipped on Friday as chipmakers broadly sold off, according to TechCrunch.

A split business that investors are pricing separately

The episode shows how unevenly the AI build-out is reaching Intel. Server chips and foundry work are growing quickly, with Intel Foundry revenue of $6.7 billion, up 58%, per the release. The consumer PC business, which relies on memory and other components that AI demand is making pricier, is moving the other way.

That makes the memory supply chain a variable for Intel’s results. In Tan’s words, quoted by TechCrunch, higher system prices are putting more pressure on already limited IT budgets. The release itself lists industry-wide substrate and memory shortages among its risk factors.

The same market is hitting other companies. Our recent coverage of Google’s stock decline after its earnings shows that investors are punishing cost and margin worries even when AI revenue is growing.

The sources leave several things open. Intel has not said how it plans to fund its investments without positive cash flow, and the release does not give a capital spending outlook. Whether the PC slowdown is mainly about memory prices, as Tan said, or also about demand, is Intel’s own view and has not been independently tested.