As Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC) struggles to regain market share and profitability, ratings and price targets reflect a cautious outlook for the semiconductor giant following third-quarter results.

The company on Thursday reported an EPS loss of 46 cents, significantly wider than the anticipated loss of 2 cents. However, Intel achieved quarterly revenue of $13.28 billion, surpassing the consensus estimate of $13.02 billion.

Analyst Color On Intel

Goldman Sachs analyst Toshiya Hari maintained a Sell rating on Intel despite the chipmaker’s better-than-expected third-quarter results and improved fourth-quarter guidance.

The bank cited persistent competitive challenges in Intel’s Data Center Compute segment and limited near-term revenue potential from external foundry clients as key concerns.

Despite revenue stability in certain areas, Goldman Sachs noted significant pressure on Intel’s gross margins, with a third-quarter non-GAAP gross margin of 18% — 20 percentage points below company guidance.

Goldman Sachs pointed to AMD’s growing total cost of ownership advantage in x86 CPUs and increasing competition from custom processors designed by large cloud providers as ongoing challenges for Intel’s Data Center CPU business.

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Additionally, Intel’s lack of a competitive accelerator for AI applications, a rapidly expanding market, further constrains its ability to capture growth in this sector. Reflecting this outlook, Goldman Sachs revised its 2024-2026 EPS estimates and reduced its 12-month price …

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