Ongoing

  1. ElectionsHot
  2. US mid-termsHeating up
  3. AICooling
NewsbriefSouth Africa, briefly.
JoburgJHB29°16°CTCT30°17°PretoriaPTA31°17°DurbanDBN27°64%

Intel shares drop more than 22% on weak forecast

Published

Ongoing: AI Cooling

Intel guided fourth-quarter revenue to $15 billion to $16 billion, below the analyst average of $17 billion, and forecast adjusted profit of 25 cents a share against 43 cents expected. The shares fell in after-hours trading on Thursday.

Intel reported third-quarter revenue of $16.5 billion, up 21%. Earnings were 52 cents a share. Wall Street had expected 40 cents, according to one report.

Intel's chief financial officer, David Zinsner, said the slowdown in the PC market should last until at least the first half of next year. Intel forecast that the PC market will shrink 10% in 2027 after an expected 12% fall in 2026.

Chief executive Lip-Bu Tan said the data center unit would have done better without a shortage of certain raw materials and the closure of an Israeli factory. Intel's shares had risen more than 150% since January before the drop.

Key facts

Who
Intel (US chipmaker whose shares fell); Alphabet (company whose earnings disappointed investors); Amazon (company whose earnings disappointed investors); David Zinsner (Intel finance chief (CFO))
What
Intel's shares fell 22 per cent on the previous day after a much weaker than expected financial forecast, breaking a run of strong earnings reports this year. Stocks also fell globally after disappointing US earnings from Alphabet and Amazon heightened investor anxiety over financing of AI infrastructure.
When
29 October 2026
Status
Reported

Related stories

Elections Hot

What you need to know

Voting in the 2026 Local Government Elections is under way at 23,696 stations, and the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) reported a smooth start on 4 November. Stations opened at 7am and close at 9pm, and by 10am preliminary figures showed 3,523,691 voters had cast ballots.

There were problems: unused ballot papers were stolen from Mnyameni Secondary School near Durban, police opened a case, and the IEC relieved the station staff of duty. Some voters in Tshwane said they were turned away for wearing party shirts, but the IEC denied this and said only mayoral candidates' entourages were barred.

ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe told members not to query the results or discredit the IEC, while the IEC said false online claims show routine procedures as fraud.

  1. IEC dismisses MK Party worry about dead people on voters' roll
  2. IEC says local election voting went largely smoothly
  3. IEC says about 12 million had voted by 5pm

See every update

US mid-terms Heating up

What you need to know

Democrats won back both the US House and Senate in the midterm elections held on 3 November, according to media projections. Exit polls showed voters were angry about high prices and the direction of the country, and rebuked President Donald Trump.

Before the vote, US forces struck targets on Qeshm Island in Iran, while Republicans struggled to defend the war against Iran on the campaign trail. Iranian officials said US voters rejected the war, and Tehran stayed on high alert for possible new US strikes.

Markets reacted, with the dollar hitting a one-month low and the rand firming to around R16.55, as analysts pointed to fears of gridlock in Washington.

  1. Iran welcomes Democratic wins in US midterm elections
  2. Democrats win US Congress in midterm vote, projections show
  3. Ramaphosa wants US trade deal after AGOA suspension

See every update

AI Cooling

What you need to know

Nvidia has told its cloud computing clients to sell at least 51% of their services to non-Chinese companies, according to five people with knowledge of the matter. Anthropic said it has committed to spend close to $900bn on AI infrastructure, and that its computing costs are rising faster than its revenues.

Elsewhere, reports from unnamed sources say OpenAI's latest funding round is falling short of expectations, and a judge let the NAACP pollution case against xAI proceed. In South Africa, the VAST AI investment scheme went offline on 30 October after withdrawals marked approved did not arrive, according to a news investigation.

  1. Accenture faces accusations over AI report with false citations
  2. CrowdStrike to buy two AI security startups
  3. Google lets schools turn off AI tools but limits Search

See every update