Trump administration The investment in Intel appears to be paying off, but the once mighty chipmaker has a long way to go to regain industry dominance.
In August, the U.S. government announced it was swapping about $9 billion in federal subsidies awarded to Intel under the Biden administration for about a 10 percent stake in the company. On Thursday, when it released its third-quarter earnings – its first financial update since President Trump’s surprise investment – Intel said it had $13.7 billion in revenue over the past three months, a 3 percent year-over-year enhance. This is the fourth quarter in a row in which Intel exceeded revenue forecasts.
Intel’s stock price has risen more than 90 percent since the deal with Trump was struck in the summer. The company’s shares cost about $20 at the time. Following today’s earnings report, the company’s share price rose to $38.16.
The White House announced it was investing in Intel weeks after Trump publicly called for CEO Lip-Bu Tan to resign over his alleged problematic ties to China. However, the president reversed his stance just days later after what he described as a positive meeting with Tan.
During the earnings call, Tan said he was “honored” by Tump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s confidence in him. He added that Intel is “fully committed to the Trump administration’s vision and proudly welcomes the United States as an essential partner in our efforts.”
Intel’s higher-than-expected revenue suggests that global demand for x86 chips, which Intel specializes in, continues to grow as the technology industry invests heavily in artificial intelligence infrastructure. While GPUs like Nvidia’s H100 continue to be the gold standard for training AI models, data center designs include a combination of GPUs and x86 CPUs that support a variety of AI workloads.
In its earnings call, Intel noted that it was unable to provide its customers with enough of its older chips, which are not as advanced as newer generations of AI semiconductors. That’s partly because consumer demand for AI-powered PCs isn’t particularly forceful, so device makers are still looking to older – and cheaper – chips.
Intel also saw net income of $4.1 billion. A year ago, the company reported that it had suffered losses of more than $16 billion. Under Tan’s leadership, Intel aggressively tried to cut costs, including laying off 15 percent of its workforce.
The last few months have been busy for Intel. Along with the Trump administration, GPU giant Nvidia and international technology conglomerate Softbank also contributed money to the company in exchange for common stock. In the last quarter, Intel received $5.7 billion from the US government, $5 billion from Nvidia and $2 billion from Softbank. It received an additional $5.2 billion by selling stakes in chipmaker Altera and autonomous vehicle company Mobileye.