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

Intel (INTC) is scheduled to report results of its fiscal first quarter after the market close on April 25, with a conference call scheduled for 5:00 pm ET. What to watch for:

GUIDANCE: Along with its last report, Intel guided for Q1 adjusted earnings per share of 13c on revenue of $12.2B-$13.2B. At the time, analysts were expecting the company to report Q1 EPS of 33c on revenue of $14.16B, but those figures have since fallen to 14c and $12.78B, respectively.

HSBC PT: Earlier this week, HSBC lowered the firm’s price target on Intel to $37 from $44 and keeps a Hold rating on the shares. The firm expects in-line Q1 results from Intel with Q2 potentially resuming growth on non-artificial intelligence momentum. The company’s new financial reporting structure highlights Intel Foundry’s ongoing weakness, HSBC tells investors in a research note. The firm says Intel remains a laggard in AI accelerators despite the Gaudi 3 announcement.

EVERCORE INITIATION: Earlier this month, Evercore ISI initiated coverage of Intel with an In Line rating and $40 price target. The firm views the risks for Intel as balanced. On the negative side, the center of gravity of computing is drifting away from Intel’s x86 standard, the company is seeing competition not just from traditional processor companies, but also its own customers, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm noted, however, that on the positive side, Intel is one of only three companies in the world that can make leading edge transistors at scale, and the only one in the U.S. that can.

CITI CATALYST WATCH: On April 15, Citi lowered the firm’s price target on Intel to $40 from $47.50 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. The firm also opened a “30-day positive catalyst watch” on the shares. Intel shares are down 29% year-to-date and is experiencing negative sentiment due to the foundry businesses losses, the analyst tells investors in a research note. However, the firm says that given the positive March notebook data of a 44% month-over-month increase, there is upside to consensus estimates. Citi expects the stock to trade higher as Intel derives roughly 31% of revenue from notebook CPUs.

INTEL FOUNDRY: In early April, Intel outlined a new financial reporting structure that is aligned with the company’s previously announced foundry operating model for 2024 and beyond. This new structure is designed to drive increased cost discipline and higher returns by providing greater transparency, accountability and incentives across the business, the company said. Amid the details of the expansion the chip maker revealed that Intel Foundry achieved revenue of $18.9B in 2023, down from $27.5B in 2022, the company said at the time. Intel Foundry,’s operating loss widened to $7B from $5.2B in 2022. “We had an operating loss of $7.0B, compared to an operating loss of $5.2 billion in 2022,” said the company. Dave Zinsner, Intel’s CFO said in part, “We expect to accelerate on our path toward achieving our ambition of 60% non-GAAP gross margins and 40% non-GAAP operating margins 2030.”