Intel's third-quarter revenue rises 21% to $16.5 billion as data-centre sales jump 78%
Intel Corporation reported on Thursday 29 October 2026 that third-quarter revenue was $16.5 billion, up 21% year over year, per Intel's own third-quarter 2026 results release, read in full. GAAP net income attributable to Intel was $3.3 billion, or $0.60 per diluted share, down from $4.1 billion a year earlier; on a non-GAAP basis net income was $2.8 billion, or $0.52 per share, up from $1.0 billion. Data Center and AI revenue rose 78% to $7.3 billion and Intel Foundry revenue rose 58% to $6.7 billion, while Client Computing revenue fell 5% to $8.1 billion. For the fourth quarter Intel forecasts revenue of $15.0 billion to $16.0 billion and non-GAAP earnings of $0.25 per share — guidance reporting describes as well below analyst expectations.
Key points
- Intel's third-quarter 2026 revenue was $16.5 billion, up 21% year over year, per the company's own results release, read in full — GAAP net income attributable to Intel was $3.3 billion ($0.60 per share); non-GAAP net income was $2.8 billion ($0.52 per share).
- Data Center and AI revenue rose 78% to $7.3 billion — CFO David Zinsner called it the strongest data-center revenue growth in 15 years — and Intel Foundry rose 58% to $6.7 billion, while Client Computing fell 5% to $8.1 billion.
- Fourth-quarter guidance is revenue of $15.0–16.0 billion with non-GAAP EPS of $0.25 — reporting puts that well below analyst expectations — and Intel says the PC slowdown will continue at least through the first half of next year.
- Intel generated $5.1 billion in cash from operations in the quarter and completed a $23 billion public equity offering, per its own release.
What happened
These are Intel's results for the third quarter of 2026, released after the US market close on Thursday 29 October 2026, in the same earnings week as Microsoft's, Samsung's, Shell's and Amazon's results — Amazon's were released the same evening and are published by Vozia as a separate confirmed brief. Intel's forward-looking statements in the release list, among its risks, 'catastrophic events' and tensions affecting Israel and the Middle East; this brief carries only what the release itself states, and no incident reporting from other outlets is included in its figures.
The shape of the quarter, on Intel's own table, is a company splitting in two directions: the AI-driven units (Data Center and AI up 78%, Foundry up 58%) growing fast enough to lift total revenue 21%, while the PC unit that remains its largest single revenue line shrank 5% — and management's own outlook has the PC slowdown lasting into next year.
Claim by claim
Why this label: From Intel Corporation's own release, 'Intel Reports Third-Quarter 2026 Financial Results' (Santa Clara, 29 October 2026, Business Wire distribution), read in full for this brief — its Q3 2026 financial results table (GAAP and non-GAAP) and its cash-from-operations line. Seeking Alpha's same-evening report of the release gives the same non-GAAP EPS of $0.52 and revenue of $16.51 billion.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The business-unit table and the Zinsner quotation are from Intel's own release, read in full — its Business Unit Summary (which carries the release's own footnotes on the unit definitions) and the CFO statement at the head of the release. The unit revenues sum to the total only after the $6.3 billion of intersegment eliminations the table itself shows, because Foundry's revenue is largely sales to Intel's own product units.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The fourth-quarter guidance table and its midpoint basis, and both executives' quotations, are from Intel's own release, read in full — its Business Outlook section and the statements at the head of the release. The guidance is the company's own forward-looking statement. InvestingLive's same-evening report puts the guidance well below the analyst expectations it cites (non-GAAP EPS of $0.25 against $0.43 expected; revenue of $15–16 billion against about $17 billion) — those expectation figures are that report's, not Intel's, and other compilers' tallies may differ.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
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Why this label: The equity offering, the Classiq acquisition plan, the Oracle collaboration and the 14A design-kit release are all from the Business Highlights section of Intel's own release, read in full — reported here as the company's own announcements; the Classiq acquisition and Oracle collaboration are stated plans, not completed outcomes beyond what the release itself says.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
What we know / what we don't know yet
What we know
- The revenue, margin, net income and per-share figures on both a GAAP and non-GAAP basis, the business-unit revenues, the cash from operations, the fourth-quarter guidance and its midpoint basis, and the business highlights — from Intel Corporation's own third-quarter 2026 results release of 29 October 2026, read in full, cross-checked against Seeking Alpha's same-evening report of the release (same $0.52 non-GAAP EPS and $16.51 billion revenue).
What we don't know yet
- What Intel's executives said on the earnings webcast — the release says the webcast was held at 2 p.m. PT on 29 October; it had not been heard for this brief at publication.
- A single analyst-consensus figure for the quarter or the guidance — reports read in this run cite differing tallies (for example on the expected non-GAAP EPS), so no one consensus number is carried as settled here; the guidance-versus-expectations comparison is attributed to the reporting that states it.
- Whether an official video of the results was available at publication — no official Intel YouTube video of the results announcement was verified via YouTube's oEmbed endpoint in this run, so the brief is published without an embedded video rather than using a third-party upload.
Why it matters
Intel is the largest US chipmaker by its own historic position and the centre of the US effort to rebuild domestic leading-edge chip manufacturing. A quarter in which data-centre revenue grows 78% and foundry revenue 58% shows AI demand reaching Intel as it has its rivals — but the weak fourth-quarter guide and a PC slowdown management expects to last into next year show why its recovery is still contested, a judgement the after-hours market reaction, reported the same evening, underlined.
Update history
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Story published as a confirmed brief, based on Intel Corporation's own third-quarter 2026 results release of 29 October 2026, read in full in this run, cross-checked against Seeking Alpha's and InvestingLive's same-evening reports. The release was published at about 20:03 UTC (Seeking Alpha's timestamp for its report of the release), inside this scan's window.