Core Insights - Intel has significantly reduced its dividend in 2023 and completely suspended it in 2024 due to ongoing financial struggles and poor performance [1][2] - The company is undergoing a leadership change and cost-cutting measures, but a return of the dividend is not expected in the near future [2][14] Financial Performance - Intel has invested heavily in new manufacturing facilities and technologies to regain its competitive edge against TSMC, which has led to a cash-intensive process with minimal initial revenue from its foundry business [4] - The client computing business has suffered from a downturn in PC demand and competition from AMD, while the data center segment has also faced challenges due to strong competition and a shift towards AI spending [5] - As of the first quarter of 2025, Intel had approximately $21 billion in cash and short-term investments but over $50 billion in debt, which has been increasing for the past 15 years [6][8] Profitability and Cash Flow - The products business remains profitable, generating an operating income of $2.9 billion on $11.7 billion in revenue in the first quarter [9] - The foundry business, however, reported an operating loss of $2.3 billion with less than $1 billion in revenue, contributing to a total operating loss of $301 million for the quarter [10] - Capital expenditures have significantly outpaced depreciation, leading to an adjusted free-cash-flow loss of approximately $3.7 billion in the first quarter [11] Strategic Moves - Intel is divesting non-core businesses and has reduced its gross capital spending target for 2025 by $2 billion to $18 billion, which may help improve its financial situation [12] - Under new CEO Lip-Bu Tan, the company is focusing on cost reduction, management restructuring, and enhancing engineering capabilities to attract major foundry customers [13] Future Outlook - A potential turnaround for Intel could begin to take shape in 2026, but the dividend is unlikely to return until the company stabilizes and grows its CPU market share and external foundry revenue [14][15] - Improving the balance sheet and reducing debt will be prioritized before any consideration of restarting dividend payments [15]

Core Viewpoint - The article discusses the potential for Arm Holdings and Micron Technologies to surpass Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) in market capitalization by 2027, driven by their respective growth trajectories and market demands. AMD Overview - AMD's stock surged 3,240% over the past decade, transforming under CEO Lisa Su since 2014, focusing on redesigning PC CPUs and custom processing units for gaming consoles [1][2] - From 2014 to 2024, AMD's revenue grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17%, with earnings per share (EPS) increasing at a CAGR of 21% since returning to profitability in 2018 [3] - Analysts project AMD's revenue and EPS to grow at a CAGR of 20% and 73% respectively from 2024 to 2027, potentially increasing its market cap from $175 billion to $260 billion by 2027 [4] Arm Holdings Overview - Arm Holdings, with a current market cap of $144 billion, designs power-efficient chips for various applications, including mobile devices and IoT [5] - The company generates revenue primarily from patent royalties and licensing fees, with significant growth driven by demand for its AI-optimized Armv9 chip designs [6] - Analysts expect Arm's revenue and EPS to grow at a CAGR of 23% and 83% respectively from fiscal 2024 to fiscal 2027, potentially increasing its market cap to $270 billion by 2027 [8][9] Micron Technologies Overview - Micron Technologies, valued at $104 billion, is a leading memory chip maker known for producing denser chips [10] - The company experienced a revenue decline of 49% in fiscal 2023 but rebounded with a 62% revenue increase in fiscal 2024, driven by stabilization in the PC and smartphone markets [11] - From fiscal 2024 to fiscal 2027, analysts expect Micron's revenue and EPS to grow at a CAGR of 21% and 150% respectively, with potential market cap growth to over $300 billion if valued at 25 times earnings [12][13] Investment Outlook - All three chipmakers—AMD, Arm, and Micron—are positioned as potential strong investments, with significant growth opportunities in their respective markets [14]