Intel Returns to Growth as Revenue Jumps 25% on Strong AI Demand and Manufacturing Expansion

Intel has reported its financial results for the second quarter of 2026, posting revenue of $16.1 billion, a 25% year-over-year increase and the company’s strongest revenue growth in more than 15 years. Adjusted earnings per share reached $0.42, while Intel expects third-quarter revenue to range between $15.8 billion and $16.8 billion.

According to Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, accelerating demand for artificial intelligence solutions continues to drive the company’s growth. He said the combination of rising demand for compute capacity, improved manufacturing capabilities and the expansion of Intel’s semiconductor manufacturing operations positions the company to further grow its CPU business, ASIC portfolio, advanced packaging technologies and Intel Foundry services.

Chief Financial Officer David Zinsner said Intel exceeded market expectations thanks to strong customer demand and continued improvements in manufacturing performance. Higher factory yields and shorter production cycle times enabled the company to increase output, while demand for AI-driven computing solutions continued to strengthen. As a result, Intel announced plans to increase investments in manufacturing equipment, cleanroom capacity and wafer production to support expected growth throughout the remainder of 2026 and into 2027.

The company’s strongest growth drivers during the quarter were its Data Center and AI business, which generated $6.3 billion in revenue, up 59% year over year, and Intel Foundry, which reported $5.8 billion in revenue, a 31% increase. Intel’s Client Computing and Physical AI business also continued to expand, reaching $8.9 billion in revenue.

During the quarter, Intel further expanded its Agentic AI infrastructure strategy by introducing new distributed inference solutions powered by Xeon processors. Together with SambaNova and Foxconn, the company demonstrated production-ready AI infrastructure designed for large-scale AI workloads and multi-agent systems. Intel also continued to broaden its collaborations with leading companies across the industrial, healthcare and automation sectors.

Intel’s outlook for the third quarter reflects continued strong demand for advanced computing solutions. The company expects ongoing investment in AI infrastructure to support further growth across both its product portfolio and Intel Foundry manufacturing services.

Credit: Intel.