Why it matters: Data Center and AI made up about 47% of Intel Products revenue in the quarter, up from about 33% a year earlier, by our calculation from the earnings release.
Intel (INTC) reported third-quarter revenue of $16.5 billion, up 21% from $13.7 billion a year earlier, for the quarter ended Sep 26, 2026. The company said revenue, gross margin and earnings per share all came in above its own guidance.
Data center: the Data Center and AI segment grew 78% to $7.3 billion, which Intel's finance chief David Zinsner called the company's strongest data center revenue growth in 15 years. The Client Computing and Physical AI segment, which sells PC chips, fell 5% to $8.1 billion. Intel Foundry revenue, which includes sales to Intel's own product units, rose 58% to $6.7 billion.
Profit: gross margin widened to 43.0% from 38.2%. Net income attributable to Intel fell 18% to $3.3 billion, or $0.60 a diluted share, from $4.1 billion, or $0.90. The year-ago figure included $1.20 a share of gains from a divestiture, according to the company's reconciliation table. On an adjusted (non-GAAP) basis, Intel earned $0.52 a share, up from $0.23.
Cash: Intel generated $5.1 billion in cash from operations in the quarter and reported adjusted free cash flow, its own non-GAAP measure, of $1.6 billion, up from $0.9 billion. The company said it completed a $23 billion public equity offering and announced plans to acquire quantum software company Classiq.
Outlook: for the fourth quarter, Intel forecast revenue of $15.0 billion to $16.0 billion, GAAP earnings of $0.10 a share and adjusted earnings of $0.25 a share, with GAAP gross margin of 37.1%.
"Our immediate priority is to unlock additional supply to meet extraordinary demand for our Xeon family," CEO Lip-Bu Tan said in the release. Zinsner said the company sees "the PC slowdown continuing at least through the first half of next year." Both outlooks are the company's own.
This story is for information only and is not investment advice.
Sources
How we checked this: We read Intel's third-quarter 2026 earnings release (Exhibit 99.1 to its Oct 29, 2026 Form 8-K, filed with the SEC) in a copy saved on Oct 31, 2026 at about 11:55 AM ET, and checked each figure and quote in this story against it.
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