Intel stock surges 15% as AI infrastructure boom drives strong revenue forecast for data centers

Intel Gives Strong Outlook in Sign of Payoff From AI Spending

Intel Corp. gave a strong sales forecast for the current period, signaling that the struggling chipmaker is finally beginning to benefit from the giant build-out of artificial intelligence infrastructure. Revenue will be $13.8 billion to $14.8 billion in the quarter ending in June, the company said Thursday in a statement. Analysts, on average, estimated $13 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Earnings, excluding some items, will be about 20 cents a share, compared with a Wall Street prediction of 9 cents. The upbeat outlook suggests that Chief Executive Officer Lip-Bu Tan is making progress on a challenging comeback plan. After lining up major investments in Intel last year -- helping to strengthen the company's balance sheet -- Thursday's results suggest he's now delivering on a promise to improve its operations. The earnings report shows that the need for data center chips to power the massive AI expansion is lifting demand for Intel's flagship Xeon server processors. That type of generalist semiconductor -- the central processing unit, or CPU -- is a renewed focus for companies trying to turn their AI software into services that bring in revenue. In an interview, Tan said Intel delivered a "solid result" that was ahead of its projections. He expects the strong demand for processors used in AI systems to expand and said the company is "laser-focused" on increasing output from Intel's factories, which still can't produce enough to fill all its orders. "There is huge demand," Tan said. "We are working very hard with our team to make sure we deliver, that we meet that demand but we are still short because the demand keeps increasing from the customers. Intel shares rose 5% in extended trading. The stock had gained 81% this year before the results were released, closing at $66.78. For now, Intel has also been able to navigate another challenge the PC industry is facing: memory-chip shortages. Red-hot demand for server products has lured memory suppliers into concentrating on the high-speed processors for those machines. That's cut into production of standard products used in phones and personal computers, meaning fewer of those mass-market devices are being built and the prices are going up. In addition to making progress on production, Tan has restored Intel's balance sheet via outside investments -- to the point where the company bought back part of a factory in Ireland that it had been forced to sell to raise cash. That purchase was taken as a sign of future confidence by investors. Adding to the optimism, Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk said Wednesday that he will use Intel technology as part of his effort to build an in-house chip manufacturing plant. Tan declined to provide further details on the relationship. In the first quarter, which ended March 28, revenue rose 7% to $13.6 billion. Profit was 29 cents a share, excluding some items. Analysts, on average, had estimated sales of $12.4 billion and earnings of 1 cent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Gross margin, the percentage of revenue remaining after deducting the cost of production, was 41% in the quarter on an adjusted basis. When Intel was at the height of its powers, it regularly reported margins north of 60%. It predicted a margin of 39% in the current period. The Santa Clara, California-based company has a long way to go to restore its former chip-industry glory. Its annual revenue of $53 billion last year was roughly $25 billion shy of the company's peak revenue, achieved in 2021. Wall Street projects 3% growth in 2026. The Intel Foundry Services division -- the company's factory unit -- generated revenue of $5.4 billion, up 16%. That unit currently relies almost exclusively on Intel product divisions for orders, though it is seeking outside customers. Its PC chip division had revenue of $7.7 billion, and the data center unit posted sales of $5.1 billion. All of those totals topped Wall Street estimates. Intel has so far failed to field the type of AI accelerator that's made Nvidia Corp. the richest in the chip industry and the most valuable publicly traded company in the world. Nvidia and others now are putting more energy into producing microprocessors that are needed to help orchestrate work done in AI data centers. That type of computing was long the domain of Intel's Xeon lineup, which once had a market share of more than 99%.

Intel shares jump 15% as it predicts revenue surge from AI data centres

Intel shares surged on Thursday after it reported strong quarterly results and better than expected financial forecasts as the US chipmaker said it was benefiting from surging AI demand for its data centre products. It reported revenue of $13.6bn for the quarter to the end of March, up about 7 per cent year-on-year and well above Wall Street expectations of $12.4bn. The stock rose 15 per cent in after-hours trading. Intel said it expected between $13.8bn and $14.8bn in revenue for the current quarter, also beating average analyst estimates of $13bn compiled by Visible Alpha. Chief executive Lip-Bu Tan said Intel had benefited from a wave of AI-driven demand that was "increasing the need for Intel's CPUs and wafer and advanced packaging offerings". Big Tech groups are pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into AI data centres, for which Intel supplies central processing units that work alongside the advanced processor chips designed by the likes of Nvidia and mainly manufactured by rival TSMC. The earnings report comes after a huge increase in Intel's share price, which has risen more than 50 per cent in the past month. Intel stock has gained ground since Donald Trump brokered a deal for the US government to take a 10 per cent stake in the US chipmaking champion last summer, which was followed by investments from Nvidia and SoftBank. Its recent partnership with Elon Musk on his Terafab chipmaking facility and its decision to repurchase its equity stake in a chip factory in Ireland from Apollo have added to investor confidence in its manufacturing turnaround. Intel has pumped billions of dollars into a lossmaking strategy to regain its position as a world-leading semiconductor manufacturer to rival Taiwan's TSMC, a risky bet that cost former CEO Pat Gelsinger his job in 2024. Under pressure from Trump, Tan has continued a slimmed-down version of the chipmaking push. Earlier this week, HSBC analysts upgraded their rating on Intel stock, saying the company appeared poised to benefit from a global rush to buy AI infrastructure which will benefit its server CPU business. Its data centre and AI products brought in $5.1bn in revenue in the first quarter, far surpassing expectations. A company spokesperson said the shift from AI model training to the "inference" computing needed to run the models was causing a proportional increase in the number of CPUs needed to accompany each GPU. Intel reported a net loss of $3.7bn, which it blamed on a $3.8bn writedown of goodwill related to its acquisition of Mobileye in 2017. On an adjusted basis, it reported net income of $1.5bn. Its chip foundry business saw revenue of $5.4bn, above the $4.6bn expected by analysts. However, this still came mostly from Intel manufacturing its own products as it hopes to land external customers in the second half of this year. Musk on Wednesday also expressed confidence in Intel's upcoming 14A manufacturing process for advanced chips, saying he planned to use it in his vast factory to supply SpaceX and Tesla. It would make him the first major customer for 14A.

Intel forecasts second-quarter revenue above estimates, shares jump 15%

April 23 (Reuters) - Intel (INTC.O), opens new tab forecast second-quarter revenue above Wall Street expectations on Thursday, underscoring booming demand for the chipmaker's server chips used in artificial-intelligence data centers. Shares of Intel surged 15% in extended trading, adding $49 billion to its market value and extending its 81% rebound so far this year. The company expects revenue of between $13.8 billion and $14.8 billion, compared with an estimate of $13.07 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. After years of management blunders left the former icon of chipmaking without a meaningful foothold in the booming artificial-intelligence industry, CEO Lip-Bu Tan put a revival plan in place to shore up Intel's balance sheet through asset sales and ⁠layoffs. Tan also secured large investments and struck deals with the U.S. government, SoftBank (9984.T), opens new tab and Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab, giving Intel much-needed fuel to put into its manufacturing operations and inspire strong investor confidence in the firm's longer-term growth. While Intel missed out on the early years of the AI boom, a new opportunity in the form of advanced central processing units (CPUs) has emerged as cloud providers shift from training models to deploying them. INTEL'S CPU OPPORTUNITY "The CPU (is) having a renaissance here," finance chief Dave Zinsner said in an interview with Reuters. "We're starting to be a meaningful beneficiary of the AI investments that are happening." While graphic processing units (GPUs) are used to process large-scale mathematical operations required to generate content, CPUs are better suited to handle workloads done by autonomous AI agents with reasoning capabilities. Part of the reason for the company's optimistic revenue projection is that Intel has elected to raise prices on its chips in ⁠order to pay for the rising costs associated with producing more of them, Zinsner said in an interview. However, Intel's ability to meet demand still depends on whether the company can continue to manufacture its processors at scale and without bottlenecks and supply issues. Intel on Wednesday landed a win for its manufacturing business, securing Elon Musk's Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab as its first major customer for the next-generation 14A process to make chips at its Terafab project, an advanced AI chip complex Musk has ⁠envisioned in Austin, Texas. Zinsner declined to provide financial details about the arrangement with the Terafab project. "I think the details of this partnership are still being worked between Lip-Bu and Elon," Zinsner said. Intel earlier this month expanded its AI CPU partnership with Alphabet's (GOOGL.O), opens new tab Google, and joined Musk's Terafab AI chip complex project with SpaceX and Tesla to ⁠make processors powering robotics and data centers. First-quarter revenue came in at $13.58 billion, beating estimates of $12.42 billion. Revenue in the company's data center and AI segment came in at $5.1 billion, compared with estimates of $4.41 billion. Competition in the CPU space remains high, as rivals Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O), opens new tab and Arm ⁠also eye the market and roll out products to get ahead. Intel reported a first-quarter loss per share of 73 cents as it incurred more than $4 billion in restructuring charges. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 29 cents per share, beating the estimate of 1 cent. Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru and Max A. Cherney and Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Pooja Desai and Matthew Lewis Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab * Suggested Topics: * Artificial Intelligence * Capital Markets Max A. Cherney Thomson Reuters Max A. Cherney is a correspondent for Reuters based in San Francisco, where he reports on the semiconductor industry and artificial intelligence. He joined Reuters in 2023 and has previously worked for Barron's magazine and its sister publication, MarketWatch. Cherney graduated from Trent University with a degree in history.

Intel's Revenues Soar, Aided by A.I. Boom

Intel posted blowout financial results on Thursday, a sign that the long-suffering chip maker is finally reaping substantial benefits from the artificial intelligence boom. Revenue in the first quarter rose 7 percent to $13.6 billion, the Silicon Valley company said, more than $1 billion higher than Wall Street expected. Intel's projection for sales in the current quarter also beat prior estimates by a wide margin. Intel's stock, already up more than 80 percent this year on early signs of a turnaround, jumped more than 20 percent after the announcement to nearly $79 a share. "These results make Intel's turnaround look less like a hope-fueled blip and more like a steadier longer-term trajectory," said Jacob Bourne, an analyst at eMarketer, in remarks issued after the announcement. The company posted a loss of $3.7 million, compared with a loss of $800,000 a year earlier, reflecting heavy investments to ramp up its manufacturing. The rapid rise in Intel's share price has substantially multiplied the value of an investment that the Trump administration made in the company last summer. In August, Lip-Bu Tan, a venture capitalist who became Intel's chief executive last year, negotiated a deal under which the government acquired about 10 percent of Intel's shares for $8.9 billion. That stake is now worth nearly $35 billion. Intel, known for microprocessor chips that handle general-purpose calculations, has largely remained on the sidelines as A.I. has taken off. More specialized chips from a rival, Nvidia, reaped the bulk of heavy-duty spending on new equipment and data centers to power the technology. But Intel's chips are playing a wider role in a class of A.I. workloads known as inferencing, which is beginning to dominate investments. Revenue in Intel's data center group jumped to $5.1 billion, up 22 percent from a year earlier, the company said on Thursday. Revenue for that group previously rose more slowly as the company said it struggled to supply enough chips to meet customer demand. Demand is still exceeding the company's chip supplies, Mr. Tan said during a conference call with analysts. But Intel has made progress in boosting production and expects to do even better, he said. The company is working "to meet customer needs," he said. "That is our top priority." Intel has struggled for years to make chips profitably for others, in what is known as its foundry business, as well as manufacturing products designed by its own engineers. But there are signs that Intel's foundry business is starting to win a few converts, as the market leader, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, struggles to fill a flood of orders for A.I. chips. Elon Musk, Tesla's chief executive, said this week that the electric car manufacturer planned to use Intel's most advanced production process to fill some of its growing need for chips. Revenue for the foundry business rose 16 percent to $5.4 billion, Intel said on Thursday. The company's business selling chips for personal computers, its largest by revenue, grew just 1 percent to $7.7 billion. That business has been hurt by rising prices for memory chips.

Intel crushes Wall Street's expectations and its stock surges 20% as revival gains pace - SiliconANGLE

Intel crushes Wall Street's expectations and its stock surges 20% as revival gains pace Intel Corp. crushed analyst's expectations as it delivered its first-quarter earnings results today, in a sign that its efforts to turn around its business under Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan are finally starting to pay off. The chipmaker reported solid earnings before certain costs such as stock compensation of 29 cents per share, way ahead of Wall Street's target of a profit of just a penny a share. Revenue for the period came in at $13.58 billion, also crushing the Street's expectations, with analysts forecasting sales of just $12.42 billion for the quarter. Intel's stock surged more than 20% in late trading on the back of today's results, adding to strong momentum that has transformed it into one of the hottest stocks on the market this year. With today's gains, the stock is now up 81% in the year-to-date, after soaring 84% in 2025. What's interesting about Intel's rising stock is that it hasn't been accompanied by much of a turnaround in its business, which fell far behind rival chipmakers such as Nvidia Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. at the beginning of the artificial intelligence chip boom. Most of the company's momentum stems from efforts by the Trump administration to champion the chipmaker, with the U.S. government notably becoming its largest shareholder in a deal made last year to secure additional funding and bring more chip manufacturing stateside. Nvidia has also made a sizable investment in Intel, and so has SoftBank Group Corp. However, there are signs that the tide is beginning to turn. Intel's revenue increased by 7% compared to the same period one year earlier, having previously recorded year-over-year declines in five of the past seven quarters. Moreover, Intel is expecting to see its revenue grow again in the short term. For the current quarter, it's forecasting sales of between $13.8 billion and $14.8 billion, well ahead of the analyst consensus of $13.07 billion. It's also forecasting earnings of around 20 cents per share at the midpoint of its guidance range, ahead of the Street's 9-cent-per-share target. Intel's growth is all the more encouraging because, for the most part, it was driven by the company's data center business, where it's finally starting to see traction in AI amid surging demand for its central processing units to power inference workloads. Revenue in that business rose 22% from a year earlier to $5.1 billion. Intel's CPUs have finally started getting attention because so-called "agentic AI," which refers to autonomous workers that perform business tasks on behalf of humans with minimal supervision, have different computing needs. Nvidia's powerful graphics processing units are generally overkill for AI agents, which can run more efficiently on CPUs. On a conference call with analysts, Tan hammered home this point: "The CPU is reinserting itself as the indispensable foundation of the AI era," he said. "This isn't just our wishful thinking, it's what we hear from our customers." There's still plenty of work to be done for Intel, though, as the chipmaker is still unprofitable. Its net loss during the quarter widened to $4.28 billion, rising from a loss of $887 million in the year-ago period. Intel's strategy differs from many other chipmakers because it still operates its own chip foundries, which means it not only designs the CPUs but also manufactures them at its own facilities. Most of its rivals outsource the manufacturing process to companies like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Intel's foundry revenue increased 16% to $5.4 billion in the quarter, though much of that revenue stemmed from manufacturing its own chips. The company has brought some interesting new products onto the market in recent months. Its new Xeon 6+ data center processors went on sale in March, while its Core Ultra Series 3 processors for personal computers and laptops hit the market in January. Also this year, Google LLC committed to buying millions of Intel's CPUs to power AI workloads in its own data centers. Those new chips are made on Intel's most advanced 18A process node at a massive new chip fab in Arizona, which is technologically similar to TSMC's 2-nanometer process. However, Intel has struggled to secure orders from other chipmakers, despite stating its ambitions to do so and grow its foundry business. The challenge for Intel is that it's recovering from years of delays on earlier node generations, not to mention teething problems at the new Arizona facility, where some of its 18A wafers have suffered defects, leading to lower production yields compared to its rival. Intel is currently working on finalizing its newest 14A process node, which is slated to go live in 2028. The company had previously said it would wait until it landed a significant new customer before moving forward with the expense of getting that new process up and running, but Tan appeared to backtrack in January, when he suddenly insisted that the company is "going big time" into the new process. On the call, Tan told analysts that "multiple customers" are currently evaluating the 14A process technology, and that development is accelerating faster than what the company saw with its 18A process. There has been speculation that some of those customers might be Elon Musk's Tesla Inc. and xAI Corp., though it's not clear exactly what kind of arrangement is planned. Earlier this month, Intel revealed that it will be collaborating with Tesla on its new Terafab chip complex being built in Austin, Texas, helping to "design, fabricate and package ultra-high performance chips" that will also be used by Musk's rocket company SpaceX Corp. During Tesla's earnings call this week, Musk revealed that the automaker wants to use Intel's 14A process to manufacture chips at Terafab, and said that by the time the new facility scales up, the process will "probably be fairly mature or ready for prime time." Tan elaborated on Musk's comments today, saying that they both share a strong conviction "global semiconductor supply is not keeping pace with the rapid acceleration in demand," and that they're "looking for unconventional ways to improve manufacturing efficiency." Emarketer analyst Jacob Bourne told SiliconANGLE that Musk may not be the only customer that's waiting for Intel's 14A process to come online. "The domestic manufacturing story continues to pay dividends for Intel, with Tesla's 14A commitment hinting at more customers in the pipeline as geopolitics pushes AI buyers towards U.S.-based capacity," he said. "Server CPU demand tied to AI infrastructure buildouts is giving Intel a steadier revenue base that's less bound to the PC cycle, and so its turnaround is looking less like a hope-fueled blip and more like a steadier, long-term upward trajectory."

US Stock Market: Intel's AI bet drives upbeat forecast and investor confidence

Intel projected second-quarter revenue above Wall Street expectations, signaling strong demand for its server processors used in artificial intelligence workloads across data centers, according to Reuters. The upbeat forecast reflects renewed momentum for the chipmaker as it attempts to regain ground in the rapidly evolving AI sector. The company expects revenue to be between $13.8 billion and $14.8 billion, surpassing analysts' estimates of $13.07 billion, based on LSEG data. Intel also issued adjusted earnings guidance of 20 cents per share for the quarter, significantly higher than expectations of 9 cents. Following the announcement, Intel's shares surged 19% in extended trading, adding roughly $64 billion to its market value and extending a strong rebound this year, Reuters reported. The improved outlook comes as CEO Lip-Bu Tan pushes a turnaround strategy aimed at stabilizing Intel's finances and restoring its competitive position. The plan includes asset sales, job cuts, and efforts to secure strategic investments and partnerships. Intel has also benefited from agreements involving the U.S. government, SoftBank, and Nvidia, which are expected to support its manufacturing ambitions and long-term growth. Although Intel lagged competitors during the early stages of the AI boom, the company is now targeting opportunities in advanced central processing units. As cloud providers increasingly shift from training AI models to deploying them, CPUs are becoming more relevant for handling workloads tied to autonomous AI systems and reasoning-based applications. Tan indicated that customer demand is already reflecting this shift, reinforcing Intel's confidence in its product pipeline. The company has also raised chip prices to offset rising production costs, contributing to its stronger revenue outlook. However, its ability to meet demand will depend on maintaining large-scale manufacturing capacity without supply disruptions. In a notable development for its foundry business, Intel secured Tesla as a major customer for its next-generation 14A chipmaking process, part of Elon Musk's Terafab project in Texas. While financial details remain undisclosed, the partnership marks a significant step in Intel's effort to expand its contract manufacturing operations. Industry observers note that Intel's long-term strategy remains high-risk, hinging on its ability to transform into a competitive foundry player capable of challenging established leaders. Success in capturing demand from emerging technologies such as robotics and agentic AI could significantly reshape its valuation over time, Reuters reported. Intel's foundry division generated $5.4 billion in first-quarter revenue, though the majority came from internal business, with less than $200 million attributed to external customers. The company's custom chip segment is expected to exceed $1 billion in revenue this year. First-quarter results also exceeded expectations, with total revenue reaching $13.58 billion compared to estimates of $12.42 billion. Data center and AI segment revenue came in at $5.1 billion, ahead of projections of $4.41 billion. The company reported a loss per share of 73 cents due to restructuring charges exceeding $4 billion, but posted adjusted earnings of 29 cents per share, well above expectations, Reuters said. Despite the positive momentum, Intel continues to face intense competition from other semiconductor firms seeking to capitalize on the growing AI market.

Intel's Data Center Revenue Grows 22 Percent Amid Pent-Up AI Demand

The semiconductor giant says that it expects double-digit year-over-year growth to continue for its data center business with "multiple long-term supply agreements with key customers" in place as it sees pent-up demand for CPUs in AI data centers. Intel is finally starting to feel the benefits of the AI infrastructure boom, with the chipmaker reporting data center revenue growing 22 percent year over year in the first quarter. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company reported first-quarter earnings on Wednesday, saying that its revenue for the period grew 7 percent year-over-year to $13.6 billion, largely thanks to the double-digit growth of its data center business. This was well above the $12.4 billion average estimate by Wall Street analysts, even exceeding the high-end estimate. [Related: Arm Exec: New AGI CPU Has Big On-Prem Potential -- But Limited Channel Play For Now] Intel's stock price was up more than 14 percent in after-hours trading. While the semiconductor giant remains behind Nvidia and other rivals in developing competitive accelerator chips for the market, the chipmaker is seeing pent-up demand for server CPUs to power AI workloads in such environments. This has resulted in a shortage of Intel CPUs, which has likely impacted every partner "across the board," including OEMs and cloud service providers, the company's global channel chief, Dave Guzzi, told CRN in a February interview. Intel CFO David Zinsner said the company's first-quarter financial performance reflected the "growing and essential role of the CPU in the AI era and unprecedented demand for silicon as well as our disciplined execution to expand available supply." "We remain focused on maximizing our factory network to improve available supply and meet our customers' needs throughout the year," he said in a statement. The company's first-quarter data center revenue was $5.1 billion. In its earnings presentation, Intel called its CPUs "foundational" to inference and agentic AI workloads as the CPU-to-accelerator ratio narrows, resulting in a greater number of CPUs needed in relation to accelerator chips like GPUs deployed into data centers. The company said that it expects double-digit year-over-year growth to continue with "multiple long-term supply agreements with key customers" in place. "The next wave of AI will bring intelligence closer to the end user, moving from foundational models to inference to agentic," said Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan in a statement. "This shift is significantly increasing the need for Intel's CPUs and wafer and advanced packaging offerings." In Intel's PC business, first-quarter revenue grew 1 percent year-over-year to $7.7 billion despite "growing inflationary pressure," the company noted in the presentation. The chipmaker also said its Core Ultra Series 3 processors marked the "best product launch" it has seen in five years for the business unit.

Intel forecasts second-quarter revenue above estimates

April 23 (Reuters) - Intel forecast second-quarter revenue above Wall Street expectations on Thursday, underscoring booming demand for the chipmaker's server chips used in artificial-intelligence data centers. Intel shares jumped roughly 12% in extended trading on Thursday. The company expects revenue of between $13.8 billion and $14.8 billion, compared with an estimate of $13.07 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. After years of management blunders left the former icon of chipmaking without a meaningful foothold in the booming artificial-intelligence industry, CEO Lip-Bu Tan put a revival plan in place to shore up Intel's balance sheet through asset sales and layoffs. Tan also secured large investments and struck deals with the U.S. government, SoftBank and Nvidia, giving Intel much-needed fuel to put into its manufacturing operations and inspire strong investor confidence in the firm's longer-term growth. While Intel missed out on the early years of the AI boom, a new opportunity in the form of advanced central processing units (CPUs) has emerged as cloud providers shift from training models to deploying them. INTEL'S CPU OPPORTUNITY "The CPU (is) having a renaissance here," finance chief Dave Zinsner said in an interview with Reuters. "We're starting to be a meaningful beneficiary of the AI investments that are happening." While graphic processing units (GPUs) are used to process large-scale mathematical operations required to generate content, CPUs are better suited to handle workloads done by autonomous AI agents with reasoning capabilities. However, Intel's ability to meet demand still depends on whether the company can continue to manufacture its processors at scale and without bottlenecks and supply issues. Intel on Wednesday landed a win for its manufacturing business, securing Elon Musk's Tesla as its first major customer for the next-generation 14A process to make chips at its Terafab project, an advanced AI chip complex Musk has envisioned in Austin, Texas. Intel earlier this month expanded its AI CPU partnership with Alphabet's Google, and joined Musk's Terafab AI chip complex project with SpaceX and Tesla to make processors powering robotics and data centers. First-quarter revenue came in at $13.58 billion, beating estimates of $12.42 billion. Revenue in the company's data center and AI segment came in at $5.1 billion, compared with estimates of $4.41 billion. Intel's shares have jumped over 80% so far this year, and nearly 48% in April, as investors bet heavily on the CPU - the kind of processor Intel has championed for decades and built its business around. Competition in the CPU space, however, remains high, as rivals Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, and Arm also eye the market and roll out products to get ahead. Intel reported a first-quarter loss per share of 73 cents as it incurred more than $4 billion in restructuring charges. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 29 cents per share, beating the estimate of 1 cent. (Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru and Max A. Cherney and Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Pooja Desai and Matthew Lewis)