Intel shares soar as AI pivot delivers massive earnings beat

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) shares surged as much as 20% in after-hours trading Thursday, after the semiconductor pioneer reported quarterly results that cleared Wall Street estimates and offered the clearest evidence yet that its transition into an AI-centric hardware provider is gaining momentum.

The Santa Clara-based company reported first-quarter revenue of $13.58 billion (€11.6bn), a 7.2% increase year-on-year that comfortably outpaced the $12.3 billion analyst consensus.

The bottom line provided an even sharper surprise: adjusted earnings per share reached $0.29, dwarfing the modest $0.01 profit that many investors had anticipated.

The primary engine of the recovery was the Data Center and AI (DCAI) division.

The segment generated $5.05 billion (€4.2bn) in revenue, representing a 22.4% jump from the prior year and significantly exceeding the $4.41 billion projected by analysts.

The growth suggests that Intel’s latest hardware—specifically the Xeon 6 processors and Gaudi 3 AI accelerators—is successfully capturing market share among enterprise customers and cloud providers looking for alternatives in an increasingly crowded AI infrastructure landscape.

CEO Lip-Bu Tan, marking his first year at the helm, emphasized that the industry is entering a new phase of decentralization.

The company’s bullish outlook further fueled investor optimism.

Intel issued second-quarter revenue guidance between $13.8 billion (€11.8bn) and $14.8 billion (€12.6bn), well above the $13 billion Wall Street had expected.