Intel's shares plunged 12% on Friday after the company struggled to meet strong AI demand for data-center chips due to supply constraints, disappointing investors betting on its turnaround. Francis Maguire reports.

Intel’s momentum reflects optimism about AI and manufacturing efforts, but analysts say earnings could underscore some challenges as well.

Intel (INTC) is set to post fourth quarter results on Thursday after markets close. Wall Street expects the chipmaker to post EPS of $0.08 on revenue of $13.39 billion, implying a fall of 6% during the quarter.

Intel stock was gaining again Thursday ahead of the chip company’s earnings report. Analysts are becoming gradually more enthusiastic about its prospects.

Rising demand for Intel’s traditional computing chips, called CPUs (central processing units), from data centers amid the rise of agentic AI and the launch of Intel’s Panther Lake chips for AI PCs prompted multiple investing firms including HSBC and KeyBanc to raise their ratings on Intel stock in the last few weeks.