Intel shares closed at $65.76 on Friday 30 October, down 28.58% from $92.07 the previous day, in what CNN and Associated Press reporting describe as the company's worst day since 1974 and its second-worst day on record. Reports put the intraday fall at roughly 29–30% at its lowest point, before a partial recovery into the close; the closing fall of 28.58% is the figure used here.

A strong quarter overshadowed by the outlook

The trigger was not the quarter just reported. Intel's third-quarter revenue rose 21% year on year to $16.51 billion, ahead of expectations, with growth in its data-centre, AI and foundry businesses. Investors instead focused on what comes next.

Guidance points to a deeper PC downturn

For the fourth quarter, Intel guided revenue of $15 billion to $16 billion, against an average analyst estimate of about $17.07–$17.08 billion, with adjusted earnings of $0.25 a share against about $0.44 expected. Its client computing revenue had already fallen 5% to $8.1 billion in the third quarter, and the company expects PC chip revenue to fall by more than 20% sequentially in the fourth quarter. Management pointed to weak PC demand, with higher memory-chip costs squeezing consumer purchases and causing customers to delay buying. Chief Financial Officer David Zinsner was reported as saying the slowdown could continue at least through the first half of next year.

A factory shutdown adds to the pressure

Intel also counted the cost of an explosion at its Kiryat Gat plant in Israel in October, in which two workers died. The company put the revenue impact at about $600 million across the fourth quarter of 2026 and the first quarter of 2027, including about $300 million and roughly 200 basis points of gross margin in the fourth quarter alone, with supplies of AI server chips to cloud customers affected. The wider chip sector fell with Intel: a closely watched semiconductor index dropped 7.2% on the day, and Nvidia fell 4.2%. Despite Friday's fall, Intel shares were still up about 78% for the year, a reminder of how far they had run before the sell-off.

Sources: CNN; Associated Press via EL7.