Intel Beats Q1 2026 Earnings on AI Demand Surge

Intel Corporation reported stronger-than-expected first-quarter 2026 earnings on Thursday, driven by surging demand for its data center and artificial intelligence products, sending its shares up more than 15 percent in after-hours trading.

The company posted revenue of $13.6 billion, a 7 percent increase from the year-ago period and well above analyst estimates of $12.4 billion. Non-GAAP earnings per share came in at $0.29, surpassing forecasts of $0.01 and marking a 156 percent rise from the prior year. While GAAP results showed a net loss of $4.28 billion, largely due to restructuring charges exceeding $4 billion, adjusted metrics highlighted improved operational efficiency with a gross margin of 39.4 percent.

The data center and AI segment led the growth, generating $5.1 billion in revenue, a 22 percent year-over-year jump that exceeded expectations of $4.4 billion. This performance stemmed from heightened demand for Intel's central processing units in AI inference and agentic workloads, where CPUs handle efficient, autonomous tasks more effectively than graphics processing units for certain applications. The client computing group, covering PCs and edge devices, contributed...