Intel just posted its fastest revenue growth in nearly 15 years, and investors cheered.
According to CNBC's Kif Leswing, the chipmaker reported second-quarter revenue up 25% year over year to $16.1 billion, comfortably beating the roughly $14.42 billion analysts had expected. It was Intel's quickest sales growth rate in about 15 years — the fastest since 2011, per Yahoo Finance — driven by what the company described as "unprecedented" demand.
The engine behind the surge is artificial intelligence. Yahoo Finance reports that AI-driven demand for server chips powered Intel's data center business to 59% growth, lifting the overall total. Reuters notes that Intel not only beat estimates on both revenue and profit but also raised its forecast, guiding third-quarter revenue above Wall Street expectations on continued AI chip demand.
Confident in the trend, Intel is putting more money behind it. According to Reuters, the company boosted its spending plans over the next two years to keep pace with an AI data center build-out that shows no sign of slowing.
Markets responded quickly. CNBC reports Intel's stock jumped 11%, with shares rising more than 10% in after-hours trading following the results, as Reuters describes a forecast that "crushes estimates." The Times framed the moment as sales growth hitting a 15-year high while AI fuels a broader scramble for chips.
For a company that has spent recent years fighting to stay relevant against faster-moving rivals, the results read as a comeback story — The Tech Buzz called it exactly that.
Why it matters: Intel's blowout quarter is fresh evidence that the AI spending wave is lifting even the industry's older giants, not just the newer chip stars, and that the money pouring into data centers is reshaping who profits from the boom.