Intel Stock Falls 2.9% as 14A Defect Gains Confront $2.1 Billion Foundry Loss

Intel (INTC) shares rose slightly after reports that SK Hynix may use Intel Foundry for next-gen memory chips, diversifying from TSMC. A deal could boost Intel's foundry business, which reported a $2.1B loss in Q2 2026. INTC shares were down 0.5% at the time of writing, while SK Hynix's U.S.-listed shares fell 1.5%.

INTC and AMD shares fell 4.2% premarket after Nvidia unveiled its first PC processors, entering a market dominated by the two companies. Nvidia's N1X processor, developed with Microsoft, will debut in fall Windows PCs. Intel announced its Xeon 6+ CPU, claiming 30% performance and power efficiency improvements over AMD's Epyc 9965. Both INTC and AMD have seen significant YTD gains, up 211% and 141% respectively.

Nvidia's latest 13F filing shows a $63.4B US stock portfolio, with Intel and SpaceX making up 80% of the value. The portfolio's value tripled in three months, despite no changes in positions. Nvidia's investments are primarily in companies within its supply chain, including suppliers and customers, according to the filing.

Nvidia (NVDA) reported strong Q2 earnings, raised guidance, and projected 70% annual revenue growth by 2028, surpassing expectations. The company introduced its Vera CPU for AI agents, aiming for $20B in CPU sales by 2027 and doubling that by 2028. This poses competition for AMD (AMD) and Intel (INTC), which also benefit from growing agentic AI demand. Bank of America raised its server CPU TAM estimate to $210B by 2030 due to AI agent growth.

Intel's CFO David Zinsner reported at the Deutsche Bank Technology Conference that the 14A process defect density is improving faster than internal targets, comparing favorably to the 22-nm process. Intel aims for 15-20% more performance or 25-35% lower energy consumption with 14A. Discussions with external foundry customers have become more concrete, though no major contracts have been confirmed. Intel's future manufacturing expansions depend on securing external demand.

AMD's market share for x86 client CPUs reached 30.3% in Q2, up from 21.1% two years ago, while Intel's share dropped to 69.7%. AMD's data center revenue more than doubled to $6.7B, with server share at 34.5%. AMD expects data center sales to double by 2027. AMD's stock surged 182% over the past year, outperforming the sector, with Q2 revenue of $11.54B and EPS of $1.66. Intel reported Q2 revenue of $16.13B and EPS of $0.42, with a consensus 'Hold' rating and average price target of $113.87.