As of about 9:00 AM IST, Saturday 31 October 2026. Market moves are Friday 30 October closing figures as reported by Reuters and CNBC.
Intel shares collapsed 28.6% on Friday, the steepest one-day fall in the company's history according to Reuters, after a weak fourth-quarter forecast set off a global sell-off in chip stocks. The Philadelphia semiconductor index fell more than 7%, its biggest drop since late June, as investors grew more nervous about the cost of the artificial intelligence build-out.
What Intel said
Third-quarter results on Thursday were not the problem: revenue rose 21% to $16.51 billion and adjusted earnings of 52 cents a share beat forecasts, according to CNBC. The outlook was. Intel guided fourth-quarter revenue to $15 billion to $16 billion and adjusted EPS to 25 cents, against analyst expectations of $17.1 billion and 43 cents.
- PC slowdown: client computing revenue fell 5% to $8.1 billion, as soaring memory prices push up PC costs. "We see the PC slowdown continuing at least through the first half of next year," finance chief David Zinsner said.
- AI demand: data center and AI revenue jumped 78% to $7.3 billion, and CEO Lip-Bu Tan said he was "disappointed that we were not able to meet strong customer demand".
- Cash: Intel said it does not expect positive free cash flow this year as it keeps investing heavily in manufacturing.
- Israel fab: an explosion at a fab in Israel earlier this month, which killed two workers, will cost about $600 million in lost revenue over two quarters, Zinsner said.
Before the report, Intel's stock had risen about 150% this year. It ended October down 45.2%.
The chip rout in numbers
| Stock or index | Move on Friday |
|---|---|
| Intel | -28.6% |
| Philadelphia semiconductor index | more than -7% |
| AMD | -10.9% |
| SanDisk | -13.5% |
| Micron | -5.3% |
| Nvidia | -4.2% |
| ASML | more than -6% |
| S&P 500 tech sector | -4.2% |
The selling spread overseas: TSMC fell nearly 2%, Samsung about 3% and South Korea's Kospi 3.5%. Among other October losers, CoreWeave dropped 38% and Arm 29.5% over the month.
Why investors are worried
Intel's warning landed on top of a week of results from the biggest cloud companies that showed AI spending still climbing while free cash flow comes under pressure. Cetera's Gene Goldman called Friday's session a "horror show". John Higgins of Capital Economics pointed to growing questions over how the hyperscalers are financing their capital spending. The iShares Semiconductor ETF is now about 29% below its high.
Disclaimer: This article is for information only and is not financial or investment advice.
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