Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) reported second-quarter 2026 results after the U.S. market closed on July 23, with both revenue and profit coming in well above market expectations. Demand for artificial intelligence data center chips helped drive the company’s strongest year-over-year quarterly revenue growth in 15 years, and Intel shares moved higher in after-hours trading.
Revenue and earnings topped expectations
Intel posted Q2 revenue of $16.1 billion, up 25% from $12.9 billion a year earlier. That was above market expectations of $14.42 billion.
On profitability, non-GAAP diluted earnings per share reached $0.42, ahead of the consensus estimate of $0.22. Net income swung to a profit of $2.2 billion from a loss in the same period last year.
Chief Executive Officer Lip-Bu Tan said the quarter marked Intel’s strongest single-quarter revenue growth in 15 years, citing sustained high demand for AI computing capacity.
Data Center and AI was the strongest segment
Among Intel’s business lines, the Data Center and AI (DCAI) segment delivered the strongest performance. Quarterly revenue rose to $6.3 billion, up 59% year over year and above analysts’ estimate of $5.6 billion.
According to the report, as AI applications move into the inference stage, demand for central processing units in infrastructure has increased. Intel said its new Xeon processor architecture has gained traction in that inference workload market.
Foundry revenue rose and 18A yields improved
Intel Foundry generated $5.8 billion in second-quarter revenue, up 31% from a year earlier.
On manufacturing progress, Intel said yield on its 18A process node improved from 65% to 85%. The company also confirmed manufacturing agreements with major cloud service providers, or CSPs.
Capital spending increased and Q3 outlook came in above expectations
Intel’s non-GAAP gross margin rose to 41.8% from 29.7% a year earlier, an increase of 12.1%. Operating margin also improved to 17.2%.
To support future product growth and expansion of its foundry business, Intel raised its 2026 capital expenditure plan to $20 billion from $18 billion. The company said it expects to keep increasing capital investment in 2027.
For the third quarter of 2026, Intel forecast revenue in a range of $15.8 billion to $16.8 billion. That outlook also came in above prior Wall Street expectations.
Management added that capacity constraints remain in parts of the supply chain, including wafers, memory and advanced packaging.