Notice: Intel Beats on Q2 Revenue as CEO Lip-Bu Tan Slashes Foundry Investment — ‘No More Blank Checks’

Intel Corporation reported its second-quarter 2025 results on Thursday, 24 July 2025, beating Wall Street expectations on revenue while announcing significant cuts to chip-factory construction under new chief executive Lip-Bu Tan, who told employees there would be “no more blank checks.” The report was Intel's second since Tan took over as CEO in March 2025, having promised to make the company's products competitive again and to reduce bureaucracy and layers of management.

Quarter in figures

Adjusted earnings per share came in at a loss of $0.10, while revenue reached $12.86 billion, ahead of the $11.92 billion analysts surveyed by LSEG had expected. Intel posted a net loss of $2.9 billion, or $0.67 per share, wider than the $1.61 billion, or $0.38 per share, loss a year earlier. The company recorded an $800 million impairment charge “related to excess tools with no identified re-use,” which adjusted EPS by about $0.20; Intel said earnings per share were not comparable to analyst estimates because of the impairment.

• Client Computing Group sales, primarily PC central processors, fell 3% annually to $7.9 billion.
• Data Center Group revenue, mostly server processors but including some AI chips, rose 4% annually to $3.9 billion.
• The foundry business, which makes chips for other companies, recorded revenue of $4.4 billion and an operating loss of $3.17 billion.
• For the third quarter Intel expects revenue of $13.1 billion at the midpoint of its range, above the $12.65 billion analyst average, and expects to break even on earnings versus the $0.04 per share analysts were expecting.

Restructuring and factory footprint

In a memo to employees published Thursday, Tan wrote that the first few months of his tenure had “not been easy” and that Intel has “completed the majority” of its planned layoffs amounting to 15% of the workforce; the company plans to end the year with 75,000 employees. Intel had previously said it was trying to reduce operating expenses by $17 billion in 2025, and had been slashing staff in Oregon and California.

1. Intel cancelled planned fab projects in Germany and Poland.
2. The company will consolidate testing and assembly operations in Vietnam and Malaysia.
3. Construction of the cutting-edge chip factory in Ohio will slow, depending on market demand and whether Intel can secure big customers for the facility.
4. The forthcoming 14A chip manufacturing process will be built out only on the basis of confirmed customer commitments, as the foundry business continues to look for a big customer to anchor it.

Tan was blunt about the diagnosis: “Over the past several years, the company invested too much, too soon – without adequate demand. In the process, our factory footprint became needlessly fragmented and underutilized.” His prescription for capital discipline: “There are no more blank checks. Every investment must make economic sense.”

Management changes and market reaction

Tan wrote that Intel wants to regain market share in data center chips and is looking for a permanent leader for the data center business, at a time when longtime rival Advanced Micro Devices has increasingly been winning server business from cloud customers. He also said he would personally review and approve all chip designs before they are taped out — the final step of the design process before a new chip is manufactured.

Intel shares fell about 5% in extended trading after the report. The stock was up about 13% this year as of Thursday's close, after plummeting 60% in 2024 — Intel's worst year on record.

Company details

Intel Corporation — intel.com