Should I Buy Intel (INTC) Stock Before Aug. 1?

With earnings season underway and a slew of companies set to report this week, investors may be honing in on specific stocks in favor of others. However, Intel’s upcoming second-quarter earnings report on Thursday, Aug. 1, could be among the most pivotal to watch. Today, INTC stock is down along with most tech stocks as investors appear to continue to rotate out of large-cap growth names into more value-oriented smaller-cap stocks.

As a key U.S. chipmaker, Intel’s status within the domestic chip industry is well-known. Investors will want to see what progress, if any, the company has made in narrowing its losses as Intel looks to improve on its chip development initiatives and seek benefits from its longer-term investments.
Of course, heightened sector-wide concerns around future demand and increased competition in this space make for varying expectations for the chipmaker. Let’s dive into what investors should watch with this key report — and what it could signal for the broader semiconductor space as a whole.

INTC Stock Down Ahead of Key Earnings Report
For the second quarter of 2024, Intel is expected to bring in $12.94 billion in revenue, roughly flat year-over-year (YOY), and a loss of 11 cents per share, down considerably from the 35 cents in earnings Intel brought in during the same quarter a year prior. Lastly, Intel is expected to see a net loss of $448 million.

Indeed, Intel’s fundamentals have certainly deteriorated over time, as a myriad of factors have pushed the company’s margins lower. In the higher-margin artificial intelligence (AI) chip segment, this is a completely different story and capital is currently continuing to seek out the higher and more profitable growth that competitors like Nvidia are able to provide. However, the question is whether the massive valuation discrepancies between a company like Intel and a competitor like Nvidia are warranted, particularly if Nvidia’s foundry business will also be a beneficiary of AI demand more broadly in the chip sector.
I think this quarter’s earnings report will certainly be pivotal for investors looking to update their models and outlooks for the company moving forward. To me, Intel represents a “show me” story right now and it appears many in the market also feel this way. We’ll have to see what the company provides in terms of guidance and whether Intel can carve out some competitive advantages in key niches, which may drive some investor capital toward this chipmaker in the near-term.