Intel’s stock plunged in its bleakest month on record, losing roughly half its value from the June peak by early November. The rout culminated with a one‑session decline of about 29% on the final trading day of October, the steepest daily drop for the company since the 1970s. The sudden shift in investor mood followed a weak outlook from management: the chipmaker now expects its revenue this quarter to fall $1-2 billion short of analysts’ consensus. Despite attempts to position itself as a key beneficiary of the artificial intelligence era, Intel’s business remains anchored in the legacy PC market, which still accounts for roughly 50%-60% of revenue and is in the throes of a deep downturn.

According to Chief Financial Officer David Zinsner, PC shipments will decline by 12% in 2026 and another 10% in 2027 as makers redirect high‑bandwidth memory (HBM) capacity away from desktop components toward AI accelerators. At the same time, Intel’s data-center business delivered a 78% jump in revenue to $7.3 billion. However, this segment is bumping against a physical capacity shortage and cannot fully meet booming demand for Xeon server processors. The situation was worsened by a temporary shutdown at the Israel Fab 28 after an incident that cost the company roughly $300 million in revenue. Management also decided to move some Oregon capacity from the flagship 18A process technology to Intel 3. That transition has raised questions about Intel’s reliability as a contract manufacturer for potential customers such as Qualcomm and Broadcom. 

On Wall Street, optimism has given way to cautious waiting. Most brokerages, including Bank of America, Roth Capital, and Seaport Research, cut their ratings on the stock from buy to neutral, citing missteps in long‑term planning. Analysts say CEO Lip‑Bu Tan’s turnaround hinges on three things: landing firm deals with large external customers, scaling production of server solutions, and stabilizing the PC market. Even under optimistic assumptions, Intel’s foundry business is unlikely to reach sustained profitability before the second half of 2027.