SANTA CLARA, California, May 14, 2026, 07:22 PDT
- Intel fell 3.9% to $115.55 in early U.S. trading, the stock heading lower for another session.
- Intel gave up server CPU share in Q1, UBS-linked data shows, with AMD and Arm picking up the slack.
- Intel rolled out a multi-year compute partnership with McLaren Racing—a more modest deal, but it lands at a moment when the company is eager to highlight actual AI and high-performance computing in action.
Intel stock dropped 3.9% to $115.55 on Thursday morning in New York, with the dip coming after new server chip numbers showed further share slipping to Advanced Micro Devices and Arm. The selloff is putting pressure on both Intel’s recent rally and the market’s growing faith in CEO Lip-Bu Tan’s turnaround strategy, according to market data at 10:06 a.m.
Server CPUs—those general-purpose chips powering data center tasks—are suddenly back in focus as AI heats up. Despite the dominance of Nvidia-type accelerators, CPUs remain essential for these systems. Lately, investors have started treating Intel like it could grab a bigger slice of AI infrastructure spending.
UBS, with Timothy Arcuri heading the analyst team, reported that server CPU shipments jumped about 19% year-on-year in the first quarter. Intel’s slice of the pie slipped to 54.9%, down from 64.4%. AMD grabbed a 27.4% share, while Arm climbed to 17.7%. The analysts pointed out “strong hyperscaler adoption of ARM” and highlighted AMD as “well positioned” for agentic AI workloads—those systems that tackle tasks by breaking them into steps, requiring less hands-on direction. Investing.com
This squeeze isn’t just a one-quarter concern. Should AMD and Arm continue grabbing server share, Intel’s primary cash source might not have enough fuel for its foundry ambitions—the contract chipmaking venture Intel hopes will stand up to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
Intel shares were under pressure even before this. On Thursday, Barron’s flagged a third consecutive slide for the stock, pointing to UBS data that highlighted AMD and Arm picking up server market share.
Intel’s latest results gave bulls a bit of ground. First-quarter revenue landed at $13.6 billion, a 7% uptick year-on-year. Data Center and AI brought in $5.1 billion, up 22%, and Intel Foundry chipped in with a 16% bump to $5.4 billion. But net loss for Intel came in at $3.7 billion. Looking ahead, the company sees Q2 revenue between $13.8 billion and $14.8 billion. Finance chief David Zinsner flagged “unprecedented demand for silicon,” and Tan pointed out it was the “sixth consecutive quarter of revenue above” expectations. SEC
Reuters on Wednesday pointed out that Intel’s shares had nearly quintupled as of Tuesday’s close since Tan took charge, but highlighted comments from three chip analysts who attributed some of the rally to index-linked institutional flows. “TSMC is the real bottleneck,” said Doug O’Loughlin, president of SemiAnalysis. Jay Goldberg at Seaport Research cautioned, “No company in history has ever fallen off” Moore’s law and managed a comeback. Reuters
Intel also put out separate news Thursday, unveiling a multi-year deal that makes it the official compute partner for McLaren’s Formula 1, IndyCar, and F1 Sim Racing teams. The partnership, according to Intel, brings Xeon and Core Ultra chips into the mix for everything from aerodynamic analysis to running vehicle simulations and plotting race strategy. “Data into competitive advantage,” is how Tan framed the aim. McLaren CEO Zak Brown, for his part, said Intel’s technology will help the team “design, build, and race” its cars. Intel Corporation
Intel gets to tout a real customer win in high-performance computing with that deal. But the bigger question for investors lingers: can Intel hold its ground in servers as AMD and Arm press in, all while it spends heavily on next-gen manufacturing?
The bear case isn’t complicated. Even if compute demand climbs, Intel risks losing share if server buyers favor AMD or Arm, or if outside foundry clients drag their feet on serious orders. If that’s how it plays out, this rally could leave little room for stumbles.
Right now, Intel faces a double-edged situation. CPUs are back in the spotlight for data centers thanks to AI, while limited foundry capacity cracks open a window for the company. Investors pushed shares on Thursday, but they’re clearly still waiting for real results—not just an improved narrative.
