⚠ Restructuring Charges Every YearModerate threat

Intel (INTC) — threat to the moat

Intel has booked restructuring charges three years running, and expects $4.3 billion more in 2026.

Intel's restructuring has become a recurring line. Restructuring and other charges were $6,970 million in 2024 and $2,191 million in 20251, and Intel's 2026 GAAP outlook for operating expenses of $23.0 billion includes $4.3 billion of restructuring and other charges2. The first quarter of 2026 alone carried $4,070 million, including the Mobileye goodwill impairment3.

Restructuring and other charges ($M)6,97020242,19120254,3002026 outlookIntel FY2025 and Q2 2026 results releases
A charge every year.

Charges that recur are costs, whatever they are called. They also make Intel's non-GAAP figures, which exclude them, look better than the cash reality.

Some of the 2026 charge is non-cash. But a company that restructures every year for three years has not yet found its right size.

The 2024 and 2025 plans were each designed to cut the workforce by about 15%45. Restructuring on that scale is a recurring event, and the charges are excluded from the non-GAAP earnings Intel emphasises. Investors comparing the non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.42 in the second quarter of 20266 with the GAAP figure should remember that the gap is not all escrow.

The absence of a restructuring line in 2027 guidance would be the sign that the reshaping is finished.

References
  1. ReportedRestructuring and other charges were $6,970 million in 2024 and $2,191 million in 2025, and Intel's 2026 GAAP outlook for operating expenses of $23.0 billion includes $4.3 billion of restructuring and other charges.
    Intel fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results release, Form 8-K exhibit 99.1 - statements, capital spending and adjusted free cash flow. — FY2025 · publ. 22 January 2026 · source ↗
  2. ReportedRestructuring and other charges were $6,970 million in 2024 and $2,191 million in 2025, and Intel's 2026 GAAP outlook for operating expenses of $23.0 billion includes $4.3 billion of restructuring and other charges.
    Intel second-quarter 2026 results release, Form 8-K exhibit 99.1. — Q2 2026 · publ. 23 July 2026 · source ↗
  3. ReportedThe first quarter of 2026 alone carried $4,070 million, including the Mobileye goodwill impairment.
    Intel first-quarter 2026 results release, Form 8-K exhibit 99.1. — Q1 2026 · publ. 23 April 2026 · source ↗
  4. ReportedThe 2024 and 2025 plans were each designed to cut the workforce by about 15%.
    Intel Form 10-K for fiscal 2024 - the 2024 restructuring, dividend suspension, goodwill impairment and headcount. — FY2024 · publ. January 2025 · source ↗
  5. ReportedThe 2024 and 2025 plans were each designed to cut the workforce by about 15%.
    Intel Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 (year ended 27 December 2025) - financial statements and notes: results, capital, government and partner transactions, restructuring and tax. — FY2025 · publ. 23 January 2026 · source ↗
  6. ReportedInvestors comparing the non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.42 in the second quarter of 2026 with the GAAP figure should remember that the gap is not all escrow.
    Intel second-quarter 2026 results release, Form 8-K exhibit 99.1. — Q2 2026 · publ. 23 July 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 25, 2026