Intel's AI Business Grew 78%. So Why Did the Stock Just Crash 30%?

Intel shares fell nearly 30% to $65.15 on Friday morning, cutting more than $100 billion from its market value, after the chipmaker projected fourth-quarter revenue of $15 billion to $16 billion, below analysts’ roughly $17 billion estimate. The forecast overshadowed results that beat expectations: quarterly revenue rose 21% to $16.5 billion, and Intel’s data center and AI business grew 78%, its fastest in 15 years. Intel expects its PC chip division, which generated $8.1 billion in the prior quarter, to see revenue fall more than 20% in the fourth quarter as PC makers cut inventory amid scarce, expensive memory chips. A fatal October 14 explosion at Intel’s Kiryat Gat factory in Israel adds about $300 million to the fourth-quarter hit.