Intel beats expectations for sixth straight quarter as AI CPU demand surges

Intel reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of $13.6 billion on 23 April, beating consensus estimates of $12.42 billion by 9.4% and the midpoint of its own January guidance by $1.4 billion. It was the sixth consecutive quarter the company has exceeded its own financial forecasts. Shares jumped approximately 20% in after-hours trading, adding to a year-to-date gain of more than 80%. Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan credited "unprecedented demand for silicon" driven by the shift of AI workloads toward CPU-heavy inference and agentic computing architectures. Non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.29 beat the consensus estimate of $0.01 by a factor of 29. Non-GAAP gross margin reached 41%, approximately 650 basis points ahead of guidance. Non-GAAP net income reached $1.5 billion, more than double the prior-year figure of $646 million on the same basis. GAAP EPS was negative $0.73, reflecting restructuring charges and other items. The Data Centre and AI segment drove the turnaround. Revenue climbed 22% year-on-year to $5.1 billion, up from $4.1 billion a year earlier. Operating margin in the segment expanded from 13.9% to 30.5%, with operating income reaching $1.5 billion. Intel highlighted sustained Xeon server CPU demand and said it expects "double-digit year-over-year growth" in the segment to continue. Client Computing Group revenue reached $7.7 billion, above the $7.1 billion consensus. AI PC revenue grew 8% sequentially and now represents more than 60% of Intel's client CPU mix. Intel also announced a multiyear arrangement with Google that will see Xeon CPUs power AI, inference, and other workloads for Google Cloud. It said it will work with Elon Musk on the planned Terafab semiconductor research facility in Austin, Texas, which will produce chips for SpaceX, xAI, and Tesla. For the second quarter of 2026, Intel guided revenue of $13.8 billion to $14.8 billion, with non-GAAP EPS of $0.20 and gross margin of 39%.