US Semiconductor Giant Turns to Q1 Loss Despite Increased Revenue from AI Demand

Intel Corp. reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of $13.6 billion—roughly ₩19 trillion—a 7 percent year-over-year increase. However, after recognizing $4.1 billion in restructuring and other charges, including an impairment on Mobileye goodwill, the company posted a $3.7 billion net loss (about ₩5.2 trillion). On a non-GAAP basis, Intel delivered $1.5 billion in net income, driven by growth in its Data Center & AI and Intel Foundry businesses.

For the second quarter, Intel forecasts revenue between $13.8 billion and $14.8 billion (approximately ₩19.3 trillion to ₩20.7 trillion). The company also disclosed that stock awards granted to its Foundry Group chief vested and automatically sold to cover associated tax withholding.

Following the Q1 results, Intel’s share price briefly hit an all-time high on renewed AI optimism, rising more than 160 percent year-to-date before entering a short-term pullback. At the same time, deepening AI infrastructure collaboration with Google has spurred speculation that Intel’s advanced process technologies and foundry capabilities could be used for packaging or I/O chips in next-generation AI accelerators for Google and NVIDIA—spotlighting Intel’s strategic shift into foundry services.

Originally renowned as a leading U.S. semiconductor company and PC CPU powerhouse, Intel is now reorganizing around three pillars: Data Center & AI, Foundry, and continued investment in large-scale manufacturing capacity. With AI compute demand surging and server and custom-chip spending on the rise, Intel’s integrated design-and-manufacturing model and foundry competitiveness face their most critical test to date.