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Intel CEO calls TSMC an ‘awesome’ company, says the company is still waiting for CHIPS Act money

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger weighs in on the company's relationship with TSMC, the status of CHIPS Act funding and the outlook for the business. Read More...

Another kitchen sink type of earnings day from chip giant Intel (INTC).

Intel shares rose nearly 7% in after-market trading on Thursday as the struggling US icon managed to serve up better than expected fourth quarter guidance.

“This was a critical quarter for us and I think gives optimism for what is to come,” Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger told Yahoo Finance moments after the company’s earnings call ended (video above).

But the initial market reaction may be a tad overdone when digging into the quarterly results.

Intel revealed $15.9 billion in total non-cash charges related to inventory write-downs and lower performance expectations for certain businesses, such as autonomous driving firm Mobileye (MBLY), where it owns a majority stake. The company reported a $5.8 billion operating loss at Intel Foundry — Intel’s upstart chipmaking business — on $4.4 billion in sales.

Intel took a cautious stance on the health of the foundry business in 2025. On the earnings call, management promised to continue executing on a $10 billion cost-cutting plan, as well as exploring alternative sources of funding to support chipmaking ambitions.

Gelsinger told Yahoo Finance no deal is imminent in terms of external funding.

He reiterated that Intel will push forward opening chipmaking plants in states like Ohio and Arizona despite not receiving billions of dollars in funding yet from the CHIPS Act.

The Biden administration has earmarked $8.5 billion in direct funding to Intel for its projects, but the company is still awaiting the cash as government officials iron out milestones that it must hit.

“Overall, we are seeing the CHIPS Act as a critical thing that we’ve invested a lot of time and energy into, and as we said on our earnings call, we’re disappointed by the time that it’s taken to get done,” Gelsinger said.

“It’s well over two years since the CHIPS Act passed. And over that period, I’ve invested $30 billion in US manufacturing and we’ve seen $0 from the CHIPS Act. This has taken too long, we need to get it finished.”

To be sure, Wall Street still sees a bumpy road ahead for Intel.

Intel faces an “uphill battle” to turn itself around and compete with the likes of Nvidia (NVDA), AMD (AMD), and Taiwan’s TSMC (TSM), Goldman Sachs analyst Toshiya Hari recently told Yahoo Finance.

He adds the company will need some time to get its technology — notably AI chips — on par with its rivals, if they can do it at all.

And BofA analyst Vivek Arya struck a cautious tone on Intel in a new episode of the Opening Bid podcast (listen in here).

Gelsinger also clarified the company’s relationship with TSMC to Yahoo Finance.

Reuters reported that Gelsinger made comments early on in his Intel tenure that strained the relationship with the semiconductor manufacturing giant. In turn, TSMC pulled a discount it was giving Intel on 3-nanometer wafers.

“They are an awesome company. They have just created the foundry model, they service customers extremely well and they service us well. And, Lunar Lake, the AI PC that we spoke about, we couldn’t do it without TSMC — they’ve been critical to that project’s success,” Gelsinger said.

“That said, we want to be a Western foundry at scale, and we think that’s seminally important for the western world… And finally I supply them with some of our advanced equipment as well. So it’s a complex relationship, but critically important for Intel, for TSMC, for the industry,” added Gelsinger, who called TSMC a customer and a competitor that they have.a great partnership with.

Intel shares are down 55% year to date.

  • Net Sales: -6% year over year to $13.3 billion vs. estimate of $13.02 billion

    • Client Computing Sales: $7.3 billion vs. estimate of $7.46 billion

    • Data Center & AI Sales: $3.3 billion vs. $3.15 billion

    • Network & Edge Sales: $1.5 billion vs. $1.39 billion

    • Mobileye Sales: $485 million vs. $485.5 million

    • Intel Foundry Sales: $4.4 billion vs. $4.44 billion

  • Adjusted Gross Margin: 18% vs. 38% estimate

  • Adjusted EPS: -$0.46 (+$0.41 a year ago) vs. estimate for -$0.03

Three times each week, I field insight-filled conversations with the biggest names in business and markets on Opening Bid. Find more episodes on our video hub. Watch on your preferred streaming service. Or listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance’s Executive Editor. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn. Tips on deals, mergers, activist situations, or anything else? Email [email protected].

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