Trump’s Investment in Intel Is Paying Off

The Trump administration The investment in Intel appears to be paying off, but the once-mighty chipmaker still has a long way to go to return to industry dominance.

In August, the U.S. government announced it was converting about $9 billion in federal grants awarded to Intel under the Biden administration into a roughly 10% stake in the company. In releasing its third-quarter results on Thursday, its first financial update since President Trump’s surprise investment, Intel said it had revenue of $13.7 billion over the past three months, an increase of 3% year over year. This is the fourth consecutive quarter that Intel has exceeded revenue forecasts.

Intel’s stock price has risen more than 90% since the Trump deal was struck over the summer. At the time, the company’s shares were trading around $20. Following the release of its earnings report today, its stock price soared to $38.16.

The White House announced it was investing in Intel weeks after Trump publicly called for CEO Lip-Bu Tan to resign over his alleged problematic ties to China. The president, however, changed his position a few days later, after having what he described as a positive meeting with Tan.

During the earnings call, Tan said he was “honored by the trust” Tump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had placed in him. He added that Intel is “fully committed to the Trump administration’s vision and proudly welcomes the United States as a critical partner in our efforts.”

Intel’s higher-than-expected revenue suggests that global demand for x86 chips, the type Intel specializes in, continues to rise as the tech industry invests heavily in AI infrastructure. While GPUs, such as Nvidia’s H100s, remain the gold standard for training AI models, data centers include a combination of GPUs and x86 CPUs, which power different AI workloads.

Intel noted on the earnings call that it was unable to supply its device customers with enough older chips, which are not as advanced as new generations of AI semiconductors. Part of the reason is that consumer demand for AI-powered PCs isn’t particularly strong, so device makers are still looking for older, cheaper chips.

Intel also reported net income of $4.1 billion. A year ago, the company reported losing more than $16 billion. Under Tan’s leadership, Intel has aggressively tried to cut costs, including laying off 15% of its workforce.

The last few months have been busy for Intel. Alongside the Trump administration, GPU giant Nvidia and multinational technology conglomerate Softbank also pumped money into the company in exchange for common stock. In the last quarter, Intel received $5.7 billion from the US government, $5 billion from Nvidia and $2 billion from Softbank. It received another $5.2 billion by selling its stakes in chipmaker Altera and autonomous driving company Mobileye.