Under CEO Lip-Bu Tan, appointed in March 2025, Intel reversed years of stagnation with aggressive cost controls—including a 15% workforce reduction—and a disciplined foundry strategy tied to customer commitments. Tan secured an $8.9 billion equity investment from the U.S. government, unlocked $2 billion from SoftBank and forged a $5 billion collaboration with Nvidia to co-develop data-center and PC CPUs. These deals, coupled with renewed investor confidence, drove an 84% increase in Intel’s share price over 2025, outperforming major rivals and restoring the company’s relevance outside the AI chip race.

Jim Johnson, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Intel’s Client Computing Group, unveiled the Core Ultra Series 3 lineup at CES 2026, touting up to 16 CPU cores, 12 Xe-cores and 50 NPU TOPS in the top X9 SKUs. Benchmarks promise up to 60% better multithread performance, 77% faster gaming performance and as much as 27 hours of battery life versus the prior generation. Series 3 also includes embedded and industrial variants certified for 24×7 operation and extended temperature ranges, marking Intel’s bold push into high-performance mobile and edge AI markets.

In Q3 2025 Intel reported $13.65 billion in revenue, up 3% year-over-year and beating consensus by $510 million, with adjusted earnings of $0.23 per share versus a $0.01 forecast. The company closed the year with approximately $30.9 billion in cash and an enterprise value of $206.6 billion, yet levered free cash flow remained negative at $4.4 billion and net profit margins hovered at just 0.37%. With a trailing P/E of 667 and a forward P/E near 68, analyst price targets span from $20.40 to $52.00 (average $38.31), reflecting divergent views on Intel’s path to sustainable profitability.