Here’s what Wall Street is saying about Intel ahead of earnings

Intel (INTC) is scheduled to report results of its fiscal third quarter after the market close on October 26, with a conference call scheduled for 5:00 pm ET. What to watch for:

GUIDANCE: Along with its last report, Intel guided for Q3 adjusted earnings per share of 20c on revenue of $12.9B-$13.9B. At the time, analysts were expecting Q3 EPS of 14c on revenue of $11.96B, but those figures have since risen to 22c and $13.54B, respectively, according to data from Bloomberg.

SUSQUEHANNA UPS TARGET: Last week, Susquehanna raised the firm’s price target on Intel to $38 from $37 and kept a Neutral rating on the shares. The firm previewed its quarterly results and sees slightly improving PC and data center dynamics setting up a solid quarter off new products, ASP uplifts, and drained inventory. Guidance should be ok with growth for PC and Server, but limited upside given weaker recent ODM builds, the firm added.

CITI SEPTEMBER: Earlier this month, Citi analyst Christopher Danely noted that notebook shipments were up 7% month-over-month in September, which was well above the firm’s expectation of down 2% month-over-month, driven by stronger seasonal demand and pull-in from Q4. As a result, Q3 notebook shipments were up 6% quarter-over-quarter, which is above the firm’s prior expectation of up 3% quarter-over-quarter, noted the analyst, who called the notebook shipment data “good for Intel and AMD (AMD).” At the time, Citi maintained a Neutral rating on Intel shares.

PSG OPERATIONS: In early October, Intel announced its intent to separate its Programmable Solutions Group operations into a standalone business. This will give PSG the autonomy and flexibility it needs to fully accelerate its growth and more effectively compete in the FPGA industry, which serves a broad array of markets, including the data center, communications, industrial, automotive, aerospace and defense sectors. Intel also announced that Sandra Rivera, executive vice president at Intel, will assume leadership of PSG as chief executive officer; Shannon Poulin has been named chief operating officer. Standalone operations for PSG are expected to begin Jan. 1, 2024, with ongoing support from Intel. Intel expects to report PSG as a separate business unit when it releases first-quarter 2024 financials. Over the next two to three years, Intel intends to conduct an IPO for PSG and may explore opportunities with private investors to accelerate the business’s growth, with Intel retaining a majority stake.

NVIDIA: Earlier this week, Reuters (NVDA), which dominates the market for artificial intelligence computing chips, is coming after Intel’s “longtime stronghold of personal computers.” Nvidia has quietly begun designing central processing units, or CPUs, that would run Microsoft’s (MSFT) Windows operating system and use technology from Arm Holdings (ARM) as part of Microsoft’s effort to help chip companies build Arm-based processors for Windows PCs, according to the report. Advanced Micro Devices also plans to make chips for PCs with Arm technology, added the report, citing two people familiar with the matter.