Intel's adjusted 33/100 score reflects a turnaround company: liquidity is adequate, but the long-term sales trend, operating loss, negative free cash flow and dilution are material risks.
What does Intel do?
Intel designs processors for personal computers and data centres. It also manufactures chips in its own fabs and aims to serve outside customers through Intel Foundry. This creates opportunity, but new fabs require very large, long-term investment.
What do the 15 measures say?
Growth 20/100: The five-year revenue trend points to an annual decline of about 9.6%, and revenue increased in only 20% of reviewed years. A neutral score was used because comparable net-income growth data was insufficient.
Profitability 14/100: Gross margin was 34.8%, while operating margin was negative 4.2% and approximate return on capital negative 1.2%. Sales create gross profit, but operating costs and heavy capital needs pull the result down.
Cash flow 44/100: Free cash flow was about negative $4.9 billion, a negative 9.4% margin. Because net income was very small, the cash-conversion ratio became mathematically extreme; the measure was held at its seven-point cap. Negative free cash flow is the core signal.
Balance sheet 47/100: A 2.02 current ratio supports near-term payment capacity. However, negative operating profit leaves interest coverage at negative 2.5 times, while the 11.5-point working-capital growth gap needs monitoring.
Shareholder policy 41/100: Share count rose by an average 5.2% a year, which can reduce an existing investor's ownership. Stock compensation was 4.6% of revenue. Neutral scores were used where SEC data was insufficient for approximate valuation and distribution measures.
Critical combinations
- AI data-centre demand + product revenue
- High liquidity + manufacturing base
- Foundry scale + outside-customer potential
- Negative free cash + heavy fab investment
- Operating loss + weak interest coverage
- Dilution + uncertain turnaround timing
Q2 2026 current context
Intel reported $16.1 billion of Q2 2026 revenue, a 40.4% GAAP gross margin and 11.1% GAAP operating margin. Operations generated $7.0 billion of cash. Intel Products revenue was $15.1 billion and Foundry revenue $5.8 billion; intersegment sales mean these figures cannot simply be added.
The company also noted that Altera's September 2025 deconsolidation affects period comparisons. These improvement signals matter, but one quarter does not erase FY2025's weak long-term measures.
Intel's long-term case depends on converting product growth into durable profit and Foundry investment into positive free cash flow. The 33/100 score makes today's risks visible; it does not predict turnaround success. This is not investment advice.
Where the figures come from
- Intel FY 2025 Form 10-K, SEC — fiscal year ended 27 December 2025; primary score source.
- Intel Q2 2026 Form 10-Q, SEC — interim period ended 27 June 2026.
- Intel Q2 2026 results — official current context; not included in the FY2025 score.
- Free cash flow is operating cash flow less capital expenditure. Missing measures were not estimated. The automated 194.8-point cash-conversion result was capped at that measure's seven-point maximum, producing 33/100 overall.