Intel Has A Tough Road Ahead: What 4 Analysts Think Of Q4 Earnings, Guidance

Intel Corp INTC shares tanked in early trading on Friday, despite the company reporting stronger-than-expected sales and earnings for its fourth quarter.

The results came amid an exciting earnings season. Here are some key analyst takeaways from the release.

Needham On Intel

Analyst Quinn Bolton downgraded the rating from Buy to Hold.

Intel unexpectedly reset its first-quarter earnings guidance and its core data center segment continues to face challenges, Bolton said in a note.

“After a string of success, it seems the easy part of the turnaround may be over,” the analyst wrote. “We view higher valuation, lower revenue/EPS estimates, increasing competition (in core and non-core markets), and distant IFS revenue all contributing to a tough road ahead,” he added.

Wedbush On Intel

Analyst Matt Bryson reaffirmed a Neutral rating while reducing the price target from $45 to $40.

Although Intel reported strong fourth-quarter results, its first-quarter guidance came in significantly short of expectations, Bryson said.

“Revenues are expected to fall far more sharply than we (or Street) had anticipated, with the steeper decline in sales weighing heavily on EPS as the model loses leverage,” he added.

While management suggested improvements in sales and margins through the rest of 2024, their indicators for current year and intermediate-term momentum were “lukewarm,” the analyst further stated.

Check out other analyst stock ratings.

KeyBank Capital Markets On Intel

Analyst John Vinh reiterated a Sector Weight rating on the stock.

Intel’s guidance is impacted by around $1 billion in revenue headwinds from non-core businesses, Vinh said in a note. “Regarding foundry, INTC announced a design win with a significant high-performance computing customer and updated its lifetime deal value across wafer and packaging to $10B+ from $4B prior,” he added.

Intel projected a double-digit sequential decline in server revenues in the first quarter, “followed by sequential improvement through the rest of CY24,” the analyst wrote. “Lastly, INTC's CY24 AI pipeline grew DD% q/q in 4Q, reaching well above $2B, and Gaudi3 is on track for a CY24 launch,” he further stated.

Oppenheimer On Intel

Analyst Rick Schafer maintained a Perform rating for the company.

Intel’s first-quarter outlook was disappointing, while data center is expected to decline by double digits in the quarter, “which we attribute to continued shift from traditional to accelerated compute,” Schafer said.

“FPGA and Mobileye materially down in 1Q reflecting inventory excess,” the analyst wrote. “IFS also weak,” he added.

INTC Price Action: Shares of Intel had declined by 11.35% to $43.93 at the time of publication Friday.

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Photo: Courtesy Intel