Intel shares sink as memory shortage drags its PC chip outlook

Intel forecast fourth-quarter revenue of $15B to $16B, below the $17B analysts expected, as a memory chip shortage hits PC demand and supply problems slow its data centre unit. Shares fell more than 20% in late trading. Third-quarter revenue rose 21% to $16.5B.

Intel shares fell more than 20% in late trading on Thursday after its sales forecast missed Wall Street’s estimates, Bloomberg reported. A slump in PC sales and supply problems in its data centre business weighed on the outlook.

Intel expects fourth-quarter revenue of $15B to $16B, below the $17B analysts expected on average. It forecast adjusted earnings of 25 cents a share, against estimates of 43 cents.

PC makers are struggling with a shortage of memory chips, which has pushed up prices and cut demand for laptops and desktops. Intel expects the PC market to shrink 12% this year and another 10% in 2027. PC makers have hit their limit on what they can pay for memory, research firm TrendForce said in September.

“Memory pricing went up a lot. I think my prediction is that in 2027 it is going to be a very severe issue to all of us,” chief executive Lip-Bu Tan told Bloomberg.

Tan said the data centre unit would have done better without shortages of some raw materials and a factory shutdown in Israel.

The third quarter itself was strong. Revenue rose 21% to $16.5B, data centre and AI sales jumped 78% to $7.3B, and PC chip sales fell 5% to $8.1B. That follows the fastest growth in more than a decade last quarter.

The stock had more than doubled this year as investors bet Intel would gain from AI. The company recently sold $15B in shares to fund its turnaround under Tan.