INTC Stock Rises Premarket: Chipmaker Reportedly Plans Data Center Layoffs, Could Unveil Details At Earnings This Week

• Intel reportedly informed employees in its data center group of planned layoffs.
• Intel is scheduled to report its second-quarter results on Thursday.
• Stocktwits sentiment for INTC was ‘bullish’ on Tuesday.

Intel is planning layoffs in its data center division, according to reports in The Oregonian and Seeking Alpha on Monday, which carry confirmation from a company spokesperson. Intel shares rose 5% in the premarket session on Tuesday. 

"As part of our broader strategy to become a more focused and efficient company, our Data Center Group is aligning its organization to ensure it has the right roles and skills in place to position the business for long-term success," the report cited an Intel spokesperson as saying. 

"We are committed to treating all impacted employees with respect and providing resources to support them through this transition," the statement added.

Why Investors Are Watching The Data Center Business

While the magnitude of the cuts remains unknown, the reported move is notable as they target one of Intel's units that has recently delivered meaningful revenue growth. The Data Center and AI Group focuses on server CPUs, custom AI chips, and data center architectures, and sales in the division rose 22% to $5.1 billion in the first quarter.

Intel reportedly informed employees in its data center group of planned layoffs, The Oregonian reported. If confirmed, the layoffs would follow broader workforce reductions undertaken by Intel over the past two years as it seeks to improve profitability.

The details could be disclosed during Intel’s second-quarter results on Thursday, Taiwanese news outlet Knews reported.

Intel’s Turnaround 

After Intel appointed Lip-Bu Tan as its CEO and the U.S. government picked up a 10% stake last year, Intel’s stock has rallied handsomely. Under Tan, Intel is showing improvement in its long-struggling foundry business, including onboarding marquee customers like Apple and SpaceX.

Intel Foundry’s operating loss narrowed to $2.4 billion in the first-quarter, improving by $72 million sequentially, helped by better yields across Intel 4, 3 and 18A processes.

INTC Stock Move, Retail View

However, amid a rotation in tech stocks, Intel shares – which had climbed 278% in the first six months of 2026 – have declined 30.5% in July.

“This ER is the first one that will fall squarely on Lip Bu’s performance. Cleaning up the balance sheet, no more blank checks. Underpromise and overdeliver. I think he is the reason I have bagheld so long through every dip. The bears don’t understand this guy is a fantastic CEO,” a trader posted on the Intel stream on Stocktwits.

The retail sentiment for INTC was ‘bullish’ as of early Tuesday, unchanged from the previous day. Year to date, INTC stock is up 163%, compared with the 74% gain in the chip benchmark iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX).

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