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Intel INTC

Intel scores weak on business quality (2.5 of 10). Here is why, in plain words, and what our sealed record shows.

Last price$104.70Oct 9, 2026
Business qualityWeak
Next earningsOct 29, 2026, after the close
Insiders, 90 daysBuying

Why it matters

  1. What Intel does

    Intel designs and manufactures microprocessors for client computing and data centers, selling directly to enterprise customers and device makers. The company relies on massive foundry scale to drive its core semiconductor sales.

  2. What it does best

    Intel maintains deep enterprise relationships in the traditional PC and server CPU markets, though its 38.6 percent gross margin badly lags peers like NVIDIA at 74.7 percent and Micron at 80.7 percent.

  3. The main risk

    Heavy capital requirements and persistent cash burn threaten solvency as the firm spends billions on foundry buildouts while sitting on a negative 10.8 percent return on equity.

Quality, check by check

Scored against its own industry, from company filings.

ProfitabilityWeak

Operating margins languish at 7.5 percent while net margins sit at negative 19.8 percent, demonstrating that the business fails to convert scale into profitable operations.

MoatWeak

Intel's historic moat rests on x86 architecture enterprise lock-in, but a gross margin sector percentile of 21 shows that pricing power has eroded significantly.

GrowthSlow

Revenue growth sits in the bottom decile of its sector at negative 0.5 percent, with annual sales shrinking steadily from $79.0 billion in 2021 down to $57.0 billion today.

Financial healthFair

With total debt of $46.6 billion dwarfing interest coverage of 3.7x and negative return on equity, the balance sheet remains under severe pressure despite $2.8B in recent free cash flow.

Insiders

Executives and directors, from SEC Form 4 filings we read ourselves. Open market trades only; grants, option exercises and pre-planned sales left out.

1 insider bought $10.0M on the open market.

Our sealed record on INTC

Verdicts appear here 30 days after we publish them; members see today's. Each one is in the nightly ledger, fingerprinted the night it was made.

The first sealed verdicts appear here on Oct 11, 2026.

Questions

Is INTC a good business?

Intel scores weak on the Cluenex quality check (2.5 of 10), measured against its own industry. Profitability is weak, moat weak, growth slow and financial health fair.

Are insiders buying INTC?

In the last 90 days of SEC Form 4 filings: 1 insider bought $10.0M on the open market.

When does INTC report earnings?

Oct 29, 2026, after the close.

For members

See INTC today

  • Today's verdict on INTC, and why
  • Fair value with cautious, base and optimistic cases
  • The exact price that would change the verdict
  • Which stocks each signal names, the night it fires
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Cite this page: Cluenex, “Intel (INTC)”, https://cluenex.com/stocks/intc/, data as of Oct 10, 2026.