Intel Reports Better-Than-Expected Results Due to Strong AI Demand

One year after people began preparing Intel’s obituary, they’re tearing it up, as the company has posted a remarkable turnaround in fortune.

In the first quarter of 2026, Intel’s revenue rose 7% to $13.6 billion, more than $1 billion higher than Wall Street expected. Intel’s non-GAAP earnings per share (which excludes one-time charges) came in at a shocking $0.29, blowing away the $0.01 EPS analysts had predicted.

The revenue beat marks Intel’s sixth consecutive quarter of beating its own guidance, which is no aberration, it’s a trend, a trend of a comeback.

The company said resilient demand, despite rising inflationary pressures, drove the newly launched Series 3 to become its strongest product launch in five years. Series 3 serves enthusiast and high-end desktop market.

“The next wave of AI will move intelligence closer to the end user, shifting from foundational models to inference and agentic systems. This transition is increasing demand for Intel’s CPUs, wafers, and advanced packaging,” said Lip-Bu Tan, Intel CEO, in a statement. “We are addressing this opportunity by listening to customers and enabling their success through our technical expertise and differentiated IP. This operational reset has delivered a sixth consecutive quarter of revenue above expectations and strengthened relationships with key partners.”

For the quarter, Intel’s Client Computing segment, which is primarily PC desktop and notebook chips, reported $7.7 billion in revenue, above Wall Street expectations of $7.1 billion. Intel’s Data Center and AI group generated $5.1 billion in revenue, well ahead of the projected $4.41 billion. Revenue for the foundry business rose 16 percent to $5.4 billion.

The company has forecast a second-quarter revenue range of $13.8 billion to $14.8 billion, with EPS expectations of $0.08 and non-GAAP EPS of $0.20. Wall Street was anticipating $13.03 billion.

But the real winner in all of this? The federal government. Last August, Tan negotiated a bailout deal in which the government acquired about 10% of Intel’s shares for $8.9 billion. Thanks to Intel’s stock ballooning from $23 per share to nearly $80 per share, that stake is now worth nearly $35 billion.