As Intel comes off its steepest stock drop since the 1970s due to a worsening outlook for the PC market, the chipmaker is facing intensifying pressure to get its flailing foundry business off the ground.
It's been an elusive task for Intel. The company has spent half a decade, and a good chunk of its $108 billion in capital expenditures over that stretch, trying to challenge Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. But it still has no marquee customer for its most advanced chips, and is primarily manufacturing chips for its own products.
Wall Street is losing patience. After the U.S. government took a 10% stake in Intel in August 2025, and Nvidia followed with a $5 billion investment, the stock started to shoot up, ultimately rising sixfold over 10 months before peaking in June. Intel was finally finding its niche in the artificial intelligence boom, delivering central processors used for agentic AI, while optimism simultaneously grew over its fab aspirations.
Intel's story took a dramatic turn for the worse on Thursday, when the company said revenue this quarter will be between $1 billion and $2 billion shy of analysts' estimates as the PC market continues to suffer from soaring costs for memory and other components. Intel still counts on its PC segment for roughly half of its revenue, and consumers are increasingly choosing not to upgrade.
The stock plummeted 29% on Friday, its worst day since the 1970s, capping off a 45% plunge in October, the steepest monthly drop on record, according to FactSet. It's down another 8% in Monday trading.