#IntelQ2RevenueSurges25%

Intel Q2 Revenue Surges 25 Percent Strongest Growth In 15 Years
Intel just posted Q2 sales of 16.1B up 25 percent year on year and that is strongest top line growth in over 15 years, well ahead of 14.4B guess.
News now: Adjusted EPS was 0.42 versus 0.22 guess, near double. GAAP loss was 2.16 on one time charges. Gross margin printed 40.4 percent versus 39 percent guess. By segment, data hub plus AI was 6.3B up 59 percent year on year versus 5.6B guess. Client PC was 8.9B up 15 percent quarter on quarter. Foundry was 5.8B up 31 percent year on year versus 5.55B guess. Q3 outlook also beat: sales seen 15.8B to 16.8B versus 15.1B guess, EPS seen 0.38 versus 0.27 guess. Capex plan lifted to 20B from 18B to add tool and space.

Why this beat: AI boom has shifted from train to inference and agentic AI. That shift favors CPUs that run agent logic and inference tasks plus advanced packaging and wafer capacity. CEO said AI is driving unprecedented need for compute and Intel is well placed across CPU, ASIC, packaging, and foundry. CFO said AI linked biz up more than 70 percent and now about 70 percent of sales and said anything we can make we can sell. Pricing held up better than plan. Foundry win flow helps: Fortinet signed for custom chip and Tesla signed for next gen 14A Terafab AI chip. Apple deal talk also helped mood.

Market effect: INTC closed at 100.23 down 2.3 percent day of print, then jumped 6 to 9 percent after hours to 106.64. Day high trade showed up 13 percent at peak. Year to date INTC still up more than 170 percent. Chip peers saw bid as well with data hub supply tight. This beat stands out versus Alphabet and Tesla that fell on capex fear. Intel shows capex up too but market sees it as catch up after years of underinvest.

Logical view: Intel missed early AI cycle that was GPU led by Nvidia. Now cycle is broader compute: CPU for agents, XPU that mixes CPU plus accelerator, plus foundry that makes custom chips. If Intel can ramp 14A in 2028 at volume and keep 18A yields up, turnaround may hold. Risk is still fab cost and yield plus need to keep pricing firm while adding 20B capex.

Real idea: Watch three gauges: data hub growth, foundry external wins, and gross margin. If data hub stays near 60 percent growth and foundry external share rises from low base, bull case stays. If capex overshoots and margin slips, gain may fade. For traders, 100 to 110 is key zone. Hold above 100 keeps momentum, break below 95 would signal sell the news.

Bottom line: Intel Q2 sales up 25 percent to 16.1B with EPS 0.42 double guess and Q3 guide well above guess. Data hub up 59 percent drove strongest growth in 15 years. Stock jumped about 9 percent after hours. Turnaround tied to AI compute and CPU comeback is now visible in numbers.