Intel Posts Strong Q1 2026 Results, Lands Tesla as First 14A Node Major Customer

Intel has posted better-than-expected Q1 2026 results, with $13.58 billion in revenue, up 7.2% year over year and well ahead of the $12.42 billion analysts had forecast. Adjusted earnings per share hit 29 cents against an expectation of just one cent, sending the stock up more than 15% in after-hours trading. Data center and AI were strong performers, bringing in $5.1 billion against estimates of $4.41 billion. The foundry division revenue generated $5.4 billion, though the vast majority of that was Intel’s own internal business. External customer revenue was less than $200 million, mostly legacy wafer work. Also, Intel ASIC business is on track for more than $1 billion in revenue this year. Part of the Q1 surprising results came from Intel clearing out finished goods inventory it hadn’t expected to move, according to CFO David Zinsner. The company is also raising chip prices to offset rising production costs, which is reflected in its Q2 guidance of $13.8 to $14.8 billion, a bit more than the $13 billion Wall Street had estimated.

Going back to the foundry side, Intel scored two notable wins on this front. Tesla signed on as Intel’s first major 14A customer for Elon Musk’s Terafab AI chip complex in Austin, however, the details of this deal are still unknown. The most logical scenario is that Terafab will license the Intel 14A process, but neither side has confirmed it. The second win came earlier this month when Intel expanded its AI CPU deal with Google, the two companies extending their co-development of custom ASIC-based IPUs.

In this first quarter, Intel launched several new processor families, including Xeon 600 for workstations, Core Ultra 200S Plus and 200HX Plus for desktop and mobile, Core Ultra Series 3 with vPro, Core Series 2 for edge devices, and Core Series 3, the first mainstream chips built on Intel 18A. Worth mentioning that Intel repurchased the 49% equity interest of its Fab 34 in Ireland and expanded assembly and test capacity in Penang, Malaysia.