Intel’s stock price falls 30%, most since at least 1982, on weak outlook

• Intel shares fell 30% on Friday, their biggest daily decline since at least 1982.
• The decline comes after the company announced plans to lay off 15,000 workers.
• Intel’s quarterly profit forecast came in below analyst estimates.

Intel shares fell sharply after the company issued disappointing forecasts and announced mass layoffs in its latest earnings report.

The company’s shares fell as much as 30% on Friday, according to Bloomberg data, marking its biggest one-day decline since at least 1982.

The decline came after the software company reported quarterly revenue of $12.83 billion, down 1% from a year earlier and missing analysts’ expectations of $12.94 billion, according to LSEG.

The company also lowered its revenue forecast for the current quarter to a range of $12.5 billion to $13.5 billion, compared with analysts’ estimates of $14.35 billion.

Intel executives highlighted unexpected trends in the latest quarter despite milestones in the company’s product development.

“Our second-quarter financial results were disappointing, even as we achieved key product and process technology milestones,” CEO Pat Gelsinger said in a press release. “Trends in the second half of the year are more challenging than we expected, and we are leveraging our new operating model to take decisive actions that will improve operational and capital efficiencies.”

Those actions and efficiency improvements include plans to lay off more than 15% of its workforce by the end of this year, reorganize its structure and operations and reduce operating costs by more than $10 billion next year.

The fall in stocks and weak earnings also had spillover effects on global semiconductor shares. Tokyo Electron fell 12% in Japan, sending the index to its worst day since 2020. Netherlands-based ASML fell more than 8%, while Nvidia fell 7% at intraday lows.

Intel executives have said they want to move quickly through the restructuring plan and expect it to result in long-term success.

“In terms of the longer-term outlook, we are clearly tempering our views on how fast we can grow in the short term, based on market conditions, but our model is based on the assumption that we will increase or decrease capital requirements as the market conditions we see,” Gelsinger told investors in a call on Thursday.