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Takeaways
- Options pricing suggests that traders expect Intel’s shares to move up more than 8 percent the day after it reports its first-quarter results after the bell on Friday.
- This will be Intel's first report with Lip-Bu Tan, the former CEO of Cadence Design Systems whose appointment has excited Wall Street, at the helm.
- Intel is expected report a decline in revenue and profit from the previous year.
Intel (INTC), the chipmaker in crisis, is scheduled to release its quarterly earnings report after the markets close on Thursday. This will be the first report since CEO Lip Bu Tan took over the company. Some investors expect the share price to move dramatically after the report.
Options pricing suggests that traders expect Intel to move in either direction by about 8.5% the day after the report on Thursday. A gain that large would be Intel’s best reaction since October 20, 2023, when the stock rose 9% following a report of a nearly 300% rise in revenue at the company’s foundry business.
Intel’s stock has recently been more likely than not to plunge on disappointing results rather than rise on a positive beat. Shares of Intel have fallen after three of its four last reports. The stock fell 26% following a $1.6 Billion loss in August last year.
Intel shed 60% of its value in 2024, making it one of the year’s worst-performing S&P 500 stocks. The company has been unable to keep pace with competitors as they race to develop artificial intelligence chips. It has also failed in its expensive attempts to become a chip manufacturer.
Intel has had a better start to the year. Wall Street was pleased to hear that Intel was looking into spin-offs and asset sales as well as partnerships with competitors. Tan, former CEO Cadence Design Systems CDNS was appointed as the new CEO in March. This gave the stock a boost.
The stock has fallen along with the market in recent weeks due to the unease over President Trump’s tariff policy. Shares, at one point up more than 30% in 2025, are down about 4% year-to-date as of Tuesday's close.
Visible Alpha has estimated that Intel’s first-quarter revenues will be $12.3 billion. That would be a 3% drop from the same quarter last year. The adjusted net profit is expected to drop more than 90 percent year-over-year, to $56million.
Visible Alpha’s analysts all have a neutral rating for Intel stock. Their price targets are $20 to $29 and the $22.63 median represents an approximately 16% premium on Tuesday’s close price.
