Intel’s Comeback: Analyst Dive for Singapore Investors
Behind Intel’s comeback: Discover how its high-stakes moves could reshape opportunities for Singaporean investors—and why you might want to pay close attention.
Intel’s comeback is the talk of the global tech town. After years of missteps, the American chip giant is making ambitious moves to reclaim its semiconductor crown. For Singapore investors, Intel’s high-stakes gamble holds lessons much closer to home than you might expect.
The Depths of Decline
Intel’s Q3 2024 shocked everyone. The chip giant posted its biggest-ever quarterly loss—US$16.6 billion. Just a year ago, they made a small profit of US$300 million. Revenue dropped 6% year-on-year to US$13.3 billion. Worst of all, gross margins crashed from 42.5% to only 15%.
If you’re used to tracking REITs or blue chips on SGX, these wild swings should remind you—no business, no matter how big, is immune to risk.
What caused the bloodbath? Intel took huge write-downs. Old machines thrown out, goodwill from Mobileye slashed, and more than 15% of their people retrenched. It’s like what we saw with Singapore banks after the Asian Financial Crisis—painful, but sometimes needed to move forward.
The twist? Despite the numbers looking damn ugly, Intel’s share price actually jumped. Investors saw signs of a fresh direction and steady leadership—just like the faith Singaporeans had in DBS and OCBC when they went full-on digital.
Strategic Shift—Intel Bets on Foundry Services
Why This Matters to Singapore
Intel just flipped its business: it now makes chips for other companies, not just its own designs. Think of BreadTalk deciding to bake for all the neighbourhood bakeries, not just selling their own buns! That’s how big this change is.
This new path puts Intel in direct competition with TSMC—the chip giant Singaporeans know well. After all, it’s TSMC’s contract manufacturing playbook that turned Taiwan into Asia’s chip superpower. Now, Intel wants a piece of that pie.
Intel has already secured over US$10 billion in foundry contracts, most built on its brand-new 18A chip process. But here’s the thing: the real challenge isn’t getting business. It’s proving their tech can actually match TSMC’s world-class factories.
Iggy’s Take: For SGX investors holding tech stocks (think AEM, UMS), follow these foundry wars closely. Shifts in global chip supply chains can ripple right back to our own portfolio, and the winners aren’t always who you expect.
