Intel Q3 earnings on deck: What to expect

What happened

Intel will report quarterly results on Thursday, with investors watching spending plans and forward guidance. Wall Street expects earnings per share of $0.40 on revenue of $16.49 billion, a 20.4% rise. Intel shares have risen over 150% this year.

Confirmed

Global impact / market context

Intel's report can show whether its turnaround is translating into sales and profit. Spending plans matter because building chip factories is costly, and guidance tells investors how much cash Intel expects to generate or spend next.

Analyst inference

Rising demand for CPUs used in AI data centers and tight supply have lifted Intel's prices and stock. Analysts expect server demand to drive another beat, but falling PC units and higher memory and substrate costs may narrow the gain.

Analyst inference

What to watch

1. Watch Intel's fourth-quarter guidance, since analysts say the stock reaction will depend less on the quarterly results than on management's forecast and any added detail. Confirmed
2. Watch whether Intel repeats a revenue beat, given its history of beating estimates, and whether server chip supply improvements lift sales as analysts expect. Proposed
3. Watch comments on memory and substrate costs, which are materials used in chipmaking, because rising costs could reduce profit per sale even as revenue grows. Analyst inference

Evidence

• seekingalpha.com