Intel Q4 results beat estimates, but softer guidance weighs

Investing.com -- Shares in Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) slipped in premarket U.S. trading on Friday, putting them on pace to shed around $25 billion in market value, after the chipmaker unveiled weaker-than-expected guidance for the current quarter.

California-based Intel said it expects to post revenue in its current three month period of $12.2 billion to $13.2 billion, a range that was well below Wall Street projections of $14.5 billion, according to LSEG data cited by Reuters. Quarterly income excluding one-off items was also seen at $0.13 per share, missing expectations of $0.33.

In a post-earnings call with analysts, Chief Executive Officer Pat Gelsinger flagged that "discrete headwinds" at its auto chip division Mobileye and its programmable solutions spin-off are "impacting overall revenue," leading to the downbeat guidance.

Intel's core business -- producing the chips used in personal computers (PCs) and traditional servers -- has been facing seasonal demand pressures as well, Gelsinger noted. Meanwhile, heavy investments, particularly around the development of artificial intelligence technologies, over the past year have dented Intel's gross margin.

"Investors are beginning to collect the bill from last year's massive AI investments, and this is a clear message for the earnings season going forward," said Investing.com Senior Analyst Thomas Monteiro.

Chipmaking groups Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU), Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) and Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) dipped in the wake of Intel's announcement, as investors fretted over an uncertain forecast for PC demand.

Intel stock was also downgraded at Needham & Company following the Q4 EPS report.

Yasin Ebrahim and Senad Karaahmetovic contributed to this report.

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