# Intel Stock Q3 2026: Data Center Sales Jump 78% but a Weak Q4 Guide Sinks the Shares
> Intel stock Q3 2026: revenue up 21% to $16.5bn, data center sales up 78%, a $15.0-16.0bn Q4 guide and a 29% one-day drop. Foundry, 18A and INTC risks.

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## Facts
- Ticker: INTC
- QSILabs fair value: $17.55 USD
- Price: $59.97 (as of 2026-11-02)
- As of: Q3 2026 results (quarter ended 2026-09-26); price as of 2026-11-02 close
- Published: 2026-11-02
- Updated: 2026-11-02
- Author: QSI Labs Research
- Canonical: https://www.quantitativesuperintelligencelabs.com/research/intel-stock-q3-2026-earnings-data-center-foundry/

## Short answer
Intel stock Q3 2026 results were the best in years for its servers and the worst possible news for its share price. Revenue rose 21% to $16.5bn, Data Center and AI revenue rose 78% to $7.3bn and GAAP gross margin reached 43.0%, but Intel guided Q4 revenue to $15.0-16.0bn, well below the roughly $17.1bn analysts expected, and warned that PC demand will stay weak at least through the first half of 2027. The shares fell 29% in a day, from $92.07 to $65.76, and closed at $59.97 on 2 November 2026. Our discounted cash flow model puts Intel at $17.55 per share, about 71% below that price: the market is paying for a foundry turnaround and a server boom that we think the cash flows do not yet show.

## Key takeaways
- Valuation: QSILabs values Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) at $17.55 per share as of Q3 2026, against a $59.97 close on 2 November 2026, about 71% below the market price. Our value was $17.56 at our 29 October update, when the shares were at $92.07.
- Q3 2026 results: revenue was $16.51bn in the quarter ended 26 September 2026, up 21% from $13.65bn; GAAP gross margin was 43.0% against 38.2%, and operating income was $2.52bn against $683m.
- Data center: Data Center and AI (DCAI) revenue rose 78% to $7.32bn and its operating income more than tripled to $3.04bn, a 42% margin, as server CPU prices rose 54% and volumes rose 10%.
- Client PCs: Client Computing Group (CCPG) revenue fell 5% to $8.10bn on 14% lower volumes; Intel expects the PC slowdown to last at least through the first half of 2027.
- Foundry: Intel Foundry revenue rose 58% to $6.70bn, almost all of it from Intel's own products, and its operating loss narrowed to $1.85bn from $2.32bn. External foundry revenue was $411m.
- Guidance and the share price: Q4 revenue is guided to $15.0-16.0bn with non-GAAP EPS of $0.25, against consensus of about $17.06bn and $0.44. The shares fell 29% the next day and closed at $59.97 on 2 November.
- Cash: adjusted free cash flow was $1.64bn in Q3. Cash and investments were $62.8bn against $50.1bn of debt, helped by a $22.6bn share sale in August.

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Publisher: QSI Labs (Quantitative Super Intelligence Labs)
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