Herman Jin
Formerly in Asia FICC at Goldman Sachs, Macro & Semiconductor Investing
Intel's poor EMIB-T packaging yields threaten its plans for next year. Per a confidential source, yields are very poor, and EMIB-T may now slip into the following year. The 14A PDK 0.9 matters more for the long term. Intel remains a very strong long-term bull case because yields should improve, though setbacks can arise along the way; whether to avoid this near-term risk is a personal judgment. x.com x.com x.com x.com x.com x.comÂ
Intel's key catalyst is still the external 14A PDK 0.9 promised for October, the holy grail. Its recent drop reflects Elon Musk's tie-up with TSMC in a weak-liquidity market rather than fundamentals. TSMC is unlikely to share IP with Musk while Intel likely would, and Musk said on Tesla's earnings call that Terafab plans to use Intel 14A. Intel cannot supply every process Musk needs, so him also working with TSMC is normal. x.com x.com x.comÂ
Intel's near-term growth is constrained by a Kiryat Gat factory blast and memory-driven PC weakness. The weak Q4 outlook calls for answers: the blast looks set to cut roughly $300 million of revenue in Q4 and could have a similar impact in Q1, limiting data-center growth. Fab ownership gives Intel pricing power and enterprise demand is strong; external foundry customers would add another tailwind if won. CEO Lip-Bu Tan said Nova Lake will allow Intel to take back share. x.com x.com x.com x.com … Show more
Intel's EMIB-T packaging could reaccelerate now that the root causes of substrate yields around 45-50% have been identified. Momentum for EMIB-T is rising for Google's TPU v10, supporting the mid- to long-term positive view despite the v9 timing slip. x.comÂ
Intel's recovery looks fragile because PC softness could persist through at least the first half of 2027. Management's weak Q4 outlook suggests the pressure may outlast one disappointing forecast. x.comÂ
Intel's data-center and foundry growth could outlast its PC-driven weak guidance. Data-center revenue rose 78% to $7.3bn and foundry revenue rose 58%, but PCs still account for about half the business and management expects their slowdown through at least the first half of next year. Q4 revenue and margin guidance disappointed, and $0.17 of quarterly EPS came from a mark-to-market gain. The selloff prices in the PC problem, not the turnaround. Overweight; $130 target. x.com x.comÂ
US sovereign AI and defense demand for domestically made compute will bring Intel most, if not all, US semiconductor designers as customers. PC weakness also lets Intel shift wafers to higher-margin server CPUs, but that takes a few quarters; capacity to ship more server CPUs is the limiter. The $240 billion 2030 server CPU market forecast is a stretch case, not the base case, versus roughly $200 billion consensus. x.com x.com x.com x.com x.comÂ
Intel looks priced for too much good news before it has actually delivered on anything. Its CPU story was carrying the share price. x.comÂ
Intel's growing server profit gives its recovery firmer support, though Q4's margin reset limits extrapolation. Data Center and AI revenue rose 78% to $7.3B; foundry losses narrowed to $1.85B but remain substantial. Management guides Q4 non-GAAP gross margin to 38% from 44.1% in Q3, while client sales fell 5%. The 14A milestone alone does not establish external foundry commitments. x.comÂ
Reported talks between SK hynix and Intel to make memory chips in the US are another strong data point for Intel Foundry, though nothing is signed. After multiple leaks of SK hynix looking at EMIB, big players are clearly treating Intel as a real alternative for advanced packaging. A deal would move EMIB from a backup option to core AI infrastructure, offloading packaging bottlenecks to US soil while undercutting TSMC on cost. Volume is not expected before 2027 or 2028. x.comÂ
Intel's advanced packaging story is already priced in; the stock got there a little too fast. EMIB and EMIB-T are legit, and the foundry pivot gives Intel a real narrative, but the market has moved ahead of it. x.comÂ
Intel's EMIB packaging is ramping as advanced packaging becomes the next chokepoint after HBM. EMIB substrate yields reportedly rose from ~30% in 2Q26 to ~45%, with targets of 50% by 4Q26 and 60% by 1Q27. Google is expected to adopt EMIB-T in 2027 and AWS is testing it. CEO Lip-Bu Tan says Intel has to prepay substrate suppliers to secure capacity. CoWoS capacity is set to grow about 20x from 2023 to 370k wpm by 2028, more than TSMC can carry alone. x.comÂ
