Intel issued a weaker-than-expected outlook for the current quarter amid a slowdown in global PC sales, leading several analysts to lower their price targets on the stock. The company said it sees adjusted earnings per share of 25 cents on revenue between $15 billion and $16 billion for the fourth quarter. That’s below LSEG estimates of 43 cents per share on the bottom line and $17 billion for revenue. That weak forecast overshadowed better-than-expected third-quarter earnings. Shares fell roughly 25% on Friday as investors digested the effect of those headwinds on Intel’s businesses. Following the report, Bank of America downgraded Intel to neutral from buy. “The stock has not communicated enough traction with external foundry customers, while its data center strength is offset by a surprisingly sharp drop in PC shipments (down 25-30% [quarter over quarter] in Q4, further inventory correction expected in 1H27),” analyst Vivek Arya said in a new note to clients. “Data center CPU is doing well in a rising agentic tide, but faces a tight supply (substrate) environment, and products are not yet technically competitive against … rivals that are growing 2x-4x faster.” Arya lowered his price target on shares to $100 from $145, suggesting about 9% upside from Thursday’s close. Here’s what other analysts are saying about Intel. UBS: neutral, $80 Analyst Timothy Arcuri revised his price target on Intel to $80 from $100, implying 13% downside from Thursday’s close. “INTC guided well below even the most bearish investor expectations owing to a much worse than expected PC segment, though this is broadly consistent with MSFT’s commentary from its earnings call last night. The path to recovery in PC looks challenging given our view that there is no relief in sight for memory pricing/supply – especially given how much server demand is growing for agentic applications.” Goldman Sachs: neutral, $100 “We expect the stock to trade meaningfully lower following a solid quarter with guidance that was significantly below the Street, driven mainly by a significantly weakening PC market. We believe investor expectations were skewed positive, driven by near-term strength in Server [central processing units], sustained momentum in advanced packaging, and signs of progress on its advanced foundry nodes.” Bernstein: market perform, $75 Analyst Stacy Rasgon lowered his price target on shares to $75 from $110. That’s nearly 19% below the level at which the stock closed on Thursday. “Intel has benefited from a very strong server market and a supportive narrative around their potential foundry prospects. However, this had led investors to gloss over an increasingly negative PC outlook; unfortunately this is the quarter when they hit the wall in that regard. More disappointingly, once again company clearly did not see it coming and is still struggling to get their manufacturing footprint aligned with the market (they still have too much PC capacity and not enough server, the latter a year into the current cycle).” Wells Fargo: equal weight, $80 Wells Fargo analyst Joe Quatrochi brought down his price target to $80 from $120, which is 13% below Intel’s closing price on Thursday. “Intel missed expectations on a PC correction / reset. With a strong data center demand backdrop, supply ramp moving through 2027 + visibility into external foundry commitments will remain key drivers of shares.” Barclays: equal weight, $75 Analyst Tom O’Malley lowered his target on Intel to $75 from $100. The new target is about 19% below the level at which shares last closed. “[There was a] surprise miss in December with [the] PC environment materially worsening in the last few weeks. Solid [data center AI] demand [is being] held back by supply… Share loss in core markets continues to keep revenue and profitability structurally depressed, meanwhile a return to manufacturing leadership in the internal fabs is not yet in evidence. On the flip side, the company is seemingly closer in producing competitive product with the recent PC launch.”
HomeTop StoriesIntel issued weaker-than-expected guidance. Analysts are losing confidence in the stock
Intel issued weaker-than-expected guidance. Analysts are losing confidence in the stock
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