Intel’s 20% Explosion: Why ‘AI Agents’ Just Saved the Most Famous Chipmaker in History

Intel has staged a dramatic financial comeback, with shares exploding by more than 25% after the company crushed Wall Street expectations in its latest earnings disclosure.

Coming off a year where shares dropped to their lowest level in more than a decade, Intel has rebounded in a big way. This was evident during trading on Friday, 24 April, not long after Intel’s first-quarter earnings report.

The company said it expected revenue of between $13.8 billion and $14.8 billion for the second quarter, clearly above Wall Street’s projected $13.03 billion.

Aside from that, there was a notable jump in their earnings per share (EPS). In the first quarter, the company reported adjusted EPS of $0.29 on $13.6 billion in revenue. Wall Street was expecting only EPS of $0.01 and revenue of $12.36 billion per Bloomberg analysts.

Also, Intel’s Data Centre and artificial intelligence (AI) business generated $5.1 billion in revenue, well above the $4.41 billion forecast. Given these jumps in numbers and the rising demand for chips, there is reason for Intel to be optimistic.

‘The next wave of AI will bring intelligence closer to the end user, moving from foundational models to inference to agentic. This shift is significantly increasing the need for Intel’s CPUs and wafer and advanced packaging offerings,’ Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan stated via Yahoo Finance.

Intel Maximises Inventory To Drive Earnings Gains

With chip shortages a known fact, Intel practically squeezed every chip it could get from its current inventory. That included checking the inventory of their finished goods and the chips they had on hand. In the end, they were surprised that even chips with a small chance of moving were sold.

‘It was either de-spec product or legacy product we had shelved and then we worked with customers. That helped a lot. I am not sure we have that benefit in the second quarter,’ Intel CFO David Zinsner said via Reuters.com.

AI Boom Reshapes Outlook For Intel Stock

Having witnessed that, there is reason for Intel to be optimistic that revenue can only go up moving forward. The AI boom is real, and its reliance on CPUs is a given.

Although some AI models have relied heavily on GPUs, it remains that they still need a CPU to perform well. However, a major problem is the chip shortage, a problem Nikkei Asia believes may last until 2027.

AI is undoubtedly the only technology that has hoarded some of the chips in the market. This, in turn, has caused problems for other consumer electronics companies, particularly smartphone and laptop manufacturers.

Hence, some companies are hardly surprised that chip costs will skyrocket in the coming months as well. In fact, CPU shipments are expected to grow by more than 20% in 2026 and 2027.

Without question, Tan’s efforts since taking over the reins at Intel are notable. He admitted that there was a point when Intel questioned if it could survive. With the AI boom, the narrative has changed considerably, leaving them to ponder how to meet the enormous demand for their product.

‘A year ago, the conversation about Intel was about whether we could survive,’ Tan said. ‘This is a fundamentally different company today, and we still have a lot of work ahead,’ he added.

By betting on the intelligence ‘at the edge’ and the rise of autonomous AI agents, Intel has reclaimed its seat at the head of the silicon table.

Originally published on IBTimes UK