Earnings Preview: What to look for when Intel (INTC) reports Q2 results

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) is scheduled to report second-quarter results on Thursday, after the closing bell. The chipmaker is going through a rough patch, losing market share to competitors and struggling to keep pace with others in the AI race. Under its new CEO, the company is executing its recovery plan, with a focus on streamlining the business through cost reduction.

Intel’s stock performance has been lackluster over the past year, with shares declining around 30% and significantly underperforming the broader market. It is picking up momentum ahead of the earnings and has gained about 10% in the past 30 days.

Estimates

The semiconductor giant’s second-quarter 2025 earnings release is scheduled for Thursday, July 24, at 4:00 pm ET. It is estimated that on a per-share basis, the company earned one cent in the second quarter and generated $11.88 billion in revenues. That compares to earnings of $0.02 per share and revenues of $12.83 billion in Q2 FY24.

The Intel leadership in a recent statement said it expects second-quarter adjusted earnings to be flat. It forecasts Q2 revenues in the range of $11.2 billion to $12.4 billion, and expects gross margin to be $34.3%.

Intel’s first-quarter revenue decreased to $12.67 billion from $12.72 billion in the corresponding period of fiscal 2024. Revenues of Client Computing, the main operating segment, dropped 8%, offsetting growth in the other areas of the business.

Earnings Drop

It reported earnings of $0.13 per share for the March quarter, excluding special items, compared to $0.18 per share in the year-ago quarter. Both earnings and revenue topped expectations. On an unadjusted basis, it was a net loss of $821 million or $0.19 per share, compared to a loss of $381 million or $0.09 per share in Q1 2024.

“We will continue to take a closer look at our existing factory footprint to ensure that we are making the most efficient use of our installed capacity before committing to any additional spending. I will continue to make the needed investment to reignite innovation even as we reduce our overall expenses by minimizing projects and programs that have been taking attention away from our core client and server business. They will include revitalizing our engineering core and rebuilding our engineering talent pool with urgency by promoting strong leaders internally, bringing back critical lost talent, and recruiting new people,” Intel’s new CEO Lip-Bu Tan said in the Q2 earnings call.

The average price of Intel’s stock over the last 12 months is $21.92. On Wednesday, the stock opened at $23.22 and traded slightly higher during the day.