A drop of nearly 30% at market open: the PC sales crisis depresses Intel

Fall on Wall Street. Intel's stock fell by almost 30% when the American markets opened this Friday, the day after the announcement of its quarterly results. In a context of general decline in technology stocks, investors were cooled by its turnover over the last three months, lower than the 17 billion dollars expected.

Certainly, this behemoth continues to be at the forefront in global semiconductor manufacturing, behind the undisputed leader, Samsung, and posts an adjusted net profit of $2.8 billion for the quarter. But its gross margins are eroding, due to the crisis shaking the PC market. A 21% drop in global PC sales in the third quarter of 2026 The rise of artificial intelligence is increasing demand for memory and necessary chips, creating shortages that have driven up the prices of these electronic components.

As a result, computer sellers ended up raising their prices, much to the chagrin of consumers, who postponed their purchases. As a result, global PC shipments fell 21% in the third quarter of this year, according to data from Counterpoint Research. » READ ALSO - “The worst is yet to come”: PC and smartphone sales collapse against the backdrop of “RAMapocalypse” “We do not expect a lasting recovery until the availability of memory has improved and prices have not started to normalize,” said financial director Dave Zinsner.

A real halt in the recovery of the firm, whose shares had increased by more than 140% since the start of 2026, after dull years, under the influence of Lip-Bu Tan, appointed head of the group more than a year ago.

Machine-translated from French