Santa Clara’s silicon giant, Intel, is bleeding. Its stock took a brutal 3.2% hit in premarket trading on April 16, part of a broader semiconductor rout sparked by tightened U.S. chip export controls. The announcement sent shockwaves through Wall Street, with investors dumping shares faster than a bad date. But Intel’s troubles run deeper than a single policy jab. Layoffs, cost-cutting, and a dividend suspension haven’t stopped the company from sliding into a quagmire of declining revenues, widening losses, and a failure to catch the AI wave.
Last August, Intel slashed 15% of its workforce—roughly 15,000 jobs—in a desperate bid to shave $10 billion in costs. The same day, it axed its quarterly dividend, a move that sent shares cratering over 12% after a grim Q2 earnings report. Revenue clocked in at $12.8 billion, missing Wall Street’s $12.9 billion target, while earnings per share limped to $0.02, well shy of the expected $0.10. The company’s factories, once the backbone of its dominance, are now a drag, with losses piling up as its ambitious expansion plans sputter.
Intel’s struggles aren’t new. By December, its stock had tanked 57% since the start of 2024, a collapse that culminated in the ousting of CEO Patrick Gelsinger. His exit followed a string of missteps, including quality issues with Intel’s 13th and 14th generation chips, which were found to degrade over time. The company’s inability to keep pace with rivals like AMD in consumer and enterprise processors, or with TSMC in cutting-edge manufacturing, has left it playing catch-up. AI, the industry’s golden ticket, remains out of reach, with Intel admitting last summer that its revenues haven’t capitalized on the boom.
More layoffs loomed in January 2024, when Intel cut 235 jobs at its Folsom, California campus and warned of further reductions. The company’s factories are bleeding cash, and its once-steady cash flow is now a trickle. The U.S. government’s export controls, aimed at curbing chip flows to certain markets, only tightened the noose, hammering Intel alongside peers like AMD, Broadcom, and Micron.
Intel’s market cap, still in the billions, is a shadow of its former self. The company’s dominance in PC and server chips, unchallenged for decades, is eroding as competitors outmaneuver it in innovation and efficiency. Its foundry business, meant to rival TSMC, is years from turning a profit. For now, Intel is a giant limping along, its layoffs a Band-Aid on a wound that keeps growing.
The facts are stark: Intel’s revenue for Q2 2024 was $12.8 billion. It laid off 15,000 workers in August 2024. Its stock fell 3.2% in premarket trading on April 16, 2025, after U.S. export control news. Gelsinger stepped down in December 2024. The company suspended its dividend in August 2024. Losses in its factory business are widening.