Intel Faces Challenges Amid $20 Billion Share Sale and Apple's Shift Away from Intel Macs

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Intel Corp. shares fell about 5.5% to $100.40 on Thursday, giving back part of a two-day rebound as investors weighed a $20 billion stock sale, a reported October price hike and Apple's latest step away from Intel Macs.

The stock was down $5.83 from Wednesday's close near $106.24, according to the quote the company printed around 10:04 a.m. Eastern. That session had followed a 9.1% jump to $104.47 on Sept. 8 after DigiTimes said Intel planned another 10% increase on PC processors in October. Intel has not confirmed the report.

The larger overhang is capital. Intel priced an upsized public equity offering of about 210.5 million shares at $95, lifting the deal from $15 billion to $20 billion. Bloomberg reported the $95 price as a 6.5% discount to the prior Friday close. The company said in the offering materials that customers "continue to signal a strong and sustainable demand environment, driven by unprecedented investment in AI compute," and that progress in "physical AI, purpose-built silicon, advanced packaging and external wafers represent significant growth opportunities." The same cash is meant to fund factories. On the July 23 earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Dave Zinsner said strong customer signals led Intel to raise 2026 capital spending to "more than $20 billion, which is up significantly versus our expectations entering the year."

Share sales dilute existing holders. They also refill a balance sheet that left the second quarter with about $30 billion in cash and short-term investments and $7 billion of operating cash flow, Zinsner said. The stock is still up sharply on the year after a climb from a 52-week low near $24. It has also pulled back from a June peak near $142.

Second-quarter results remain the fundamental case. Revenue was $16.1 billion, up 25% from a year earlier and $1.8 billion above the midpoint of guidance. Non-GAAP gross margin was 41.8%, up 12.1 percentage points year over year. Non-GAAP earnings were 42 cents a share against a 20-cent guide. GAAP earnings were a loss of $2.16 a share. Client computing brought in $7.7 billion, up $1.1 billion; average selling prices rose 27% while unit volume fell 8%. Server average selling prices jumped 48% and server volume rose 9%. Intel said demand outstripped supply.

Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan called it "our strongest revenue growth in more than fifteen years, enabled by greater speed, accountability, and customer focus." He said AI is "driving unprecedented demand for compute, and as we continue to execute, Intel is well-positioned to capture sustainable growth across our CPU franchise, ASICs, advanced packaging and vast wafer foundry network." Zinsner said the quarter beat on "robust demand and improved execution, including volume upside driven by higher factory yields and improved cycle times." Guidance for the third quarter is $15.8 billion to $16.8 billion of revenue, 42% non-GAAP gross margin and 38 cents of non-GAAP earnings at the midpoint.

Tan also flagged the limit. In January he said 18A yields were "in line with our internal plans" but "still below what I want them to be." Zinsner said buffer inventory was "depleted." On the July call Tan said PC consumption would be "sub-seasonal in the second half" and "down low double digits percent for all of 2026, impacted by rising memory prices and constraints," while server CPU demand was tracking "strong double-digit unit growth."

Apple added a symbolic cut. The company told Mac App Store developers they may drop support for Intel-based Macs in apps that require macOS 13 or later. That does not change Intel's current PC and server billings. It does close another door on a franchise Apple began leaving when it switched Macs to its own silicon.

Foundry progress is the other side of the tape. Intel and ASML said Intel has processed more than one million wafers on High-NA EUV tools used on selected 18A layers and upcoming Panther Lake chips. Foundry losses have not disappeared.

AMD has restated that it will keep using Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

The October price story is margin math. A 10% lift on client CPUs would follow earlier increases since late 2025. Citrini analyst Jukan Choe argued on X that raising prices into a shrinking PC market means Intel is choosing gross margin over share. DigiTimes also said Intel could drop lower-margin Small Core parts. Until Intel confirms either move, the tape is treating rumor as a one-day catalyst and dilution as a multi-week weight.

Wall Street's consensus, as compiled by MarketBeat this week, was Hold with an average target near $108. That is roughly where the stock sat before Thursday's slide. The debate is no longer whether Intel survives. It is whether $20 billion of new shares, tight 18A yields, a PC unit slump and an Apple ecosystem that no longer needs x86 can coexist with a valuation built on AI servers and a foundry that is still learning to print other people's chips.

Tan's seventh straight beat bought time. Thursday's close near $100 asked whether the next $20 billion of factories will earn more than they dilute.