Intel predicts profitable year before 2028 driven by AI initiatives

Intel just did something it hasn’t done in a while: exceeded expectations. The chipmaker now expects to post a profitable year as early as 2025 or 2026, well ahead of its previous 2028 target. The turnaround story centers on Q2 2026 results that caught Wall Street’s attention. Intel reported $16.1 billion in revenue, a 25% increase year-over-year, with its Data Center and AI segment doing most of the heavy lifting via a 59% surge. The numbers behind the comeback CEO Lip-Bu Tan’s playbook has two main chapters: foundry services and advanced AI CPU development. Foundry revenue hit $5.4 billion in Q1 2026, a 16% year-over-year increase. Management was confident enough to raise its Q3 2026 revenue guidance to a range of $15.8 billion to $16.8 billion, surpassing consensus estimates. The company also bumped its 2026 capital expenditure guidance above $20 billion, earmarking the bulk of that spending for AI infrastructure buildout. Why crypto investors should pay attention The semiconductor supply chain sits at the foundation of virtually everything in crypto, from Bitcoin mining ASICs to the GPU clusters powering AI-driven trading algorithms and blockchain infrastructure. A more competi...