MMarketMath

INTC

Slow growerQuality: Low (29/100)3 red flags

Intel · Information Technology · Semiconductors

$87.26

52w 23.68 – 142.35

20y monthly, adjusted

Mkt cap

$440.1B

P/E

P/FCF

FCF yield

-1.1%

ROE

-0.2%

Shldr yield

0.0%

div 0.0% + bb 0.0%

Historical multiple lens

At its own median P/OCF of 6.3× across 19 years, INTC would trade near $12/share (25th–75th percentile: $10–$14); it trades at 45.4× today.

Assumes the historical multiple regime persists — re-ratings can be permanent.

Growth record

Compound annual growth rates from as-filed 10-K data, split-adjusted

Rev 3y

−5.7%

Rev 5y

−7.5%

Rev 10y

−0.5%

EPS 5y

EPS 10y

FCF 5y

FCF 10y

Fundamentals

Fiscal 2007–2025, from SEC filings

Revenue

2007: $38.3B
2008: $37.6B
2009: $35.1B
2010: $43.6B
2011: $54.0B
2012: $53.3B
2013: $52.7B
2014: $55.9B
2015: $55.4B
2016: $59.4B
2017: $62.8B
2018: $70.8B
2019: $72.0B
2020: $77.9B
2021: $79.0B
2022: $63.1B
2023: $54.2B
2024: $53.1B
2025: $52.9B
$0$20.0B$40.0B$60.0B
07
11
15
19
23

Net income

2007: $7.0B
2008: $5.3B
2009: $4.4B
2010: $11.5B
2011: $12.9B
2012: $11.0B
2013: $9.6B
2014: $11.7B
2015: $11.4B
2016: $10.3B
2017: $9.6B
2018: $21.1B
2019: $21.0B
2020: $20.9B
2021: $19.9B
2022: $8.0B
2023: $1.7B
2024: −$18.8B
2025: −$267.0M
−$10.0B$0$10.0B$20.0B
07
11
15
19
23

Free cash flow

2007: $7.6B
2008: $5.7B
2009: $6.7B
2010: $11.5B
2011: $10.2B
2012: $7.9B
2013: $10.1B
2014: $10.3B
2015: $11.7B
2016: $12.2B
2017: $10.3B
2018: $14.3B
2019: $16.9B
2020: $21.6B
2021: $10.7B
2022: −$9.4B
2023: −$14.3B
2024: −$15.7B
2025: −$4.9B
−$10.0B$0$10.0B$20.0B
07
11
15
19
23

Diluted shares (lower is better)

2007: 5.9B
2008: 5.7B
2009: 5.6B
2010: 5.7B
2011: 5.4B
2012: 5.2B
2013: 5.1B
2014: 5.1B
2015: 4.9B
2016: 4.9B
2017: 4.8B
2018: 4.7B
2019: 4.5B
2020: 4.2B
2021: 4.1B
2022: 4.1B
2023: 4.2B
2024: 4.3B
2025: 4.5B
02.0B4.0B
07
11
15
19
23

Margins

0%50%07101316192225
Net marginFCF marginGross margin

Capital returned (dividends + buybacks)

2007: $5.4B
2008: $10.3B
2009: $4.9B
2010: $5.2B
2011: $18.5B
2012: $9.1B
2013: $6.6B
2014: $15.2B
2015: $7.6B
2016: $7.5B
2017: $8.7B
2018: $16.3B
2019: $19.2B
2020: $19.8B
2021: $8.1B
2022: $6.0B
2023: $3.1B
2024: $1.6B
2025: $0
$0$5.0B$10.0B$15.0B
07
11
15
19
23

Cash vs long-term debt

$0$20.0B$40.0B07101316192225
CashLT debt

Quarterly

Discrete quarters from 10-Q filings; Q4 derived as fiscal year minus Q1–Q3. OCF is unwound from the year-to-date figures 10-Qs report. Compare to the same quarter a year ago — most businesses are seasonal.

Revenue by quarter

Q2'23: $12.9B
Q3'23: $14.2B
Q4'23: $15.4B
Q1'24: $12.7B
Q2'24: $12.8B
Q3'24: $13.3B
Q4'24: $14.3B
Q1'25: $12.7B
Q2'25: $12.9B
Q3'25: $13.7B
Q4'25: $13.7B
Q1'26: $13.6B
Q2'26: $16.1B
$0$5.0B$10.0B$15.0B
23
24
24
25
26

Net income by quarter

Q2'23: $1.5B
Q3'23: $297.0M
Q4'23: $2.7B
Q1'24: −$381.0M
Q2'24: −$1.6B
Q3'24: −$16.6B
Q4'24: −$126.0M
Q1'25: −$821.0M
Q2'25: −$2.9B
Q3'25: $4.1B
Q4'25: −$591.0M
Q1'26: −$3.7B
Q2'26: −$11.0B
−$10.0B$0
23
24
24
25
26
QuarterRevenueYoYNet incomeYoYEPSOCF
Q2'26$16.1B+25.4%−$11.0B-2.16$7.0B
Q1'26$13.6B+7.2%−$3.7B-0.73$1.1B
Q4'25 *$13.7B−4.1%−$591.0M-0.10$4.3B
Q3'25$13.7B+2.8%$4.1B0.90$2.5B
Q2'25$12.9B+0.2%−$2.9B-0.67$2.0B
Q1'25$12.7B−0.4%−$821.0M-0.19$813.0M
Q4'24 *$14.3B−7.4%−$126.0M−104.7%-0.03$3.2B
Q3'24$13.3B−6.2%−$16.6B−5702.4%-3.88$4.1B
Q2'24$12.8B−0.9%−$1.6B−208.7%-0.38$2.3B
Q1'24$12.7B+8.6%−$381.0M-0.09−$1.2B
Q4'23 *$15.4B+9.7%$2.7B0.64$4.6B
Q3'23$14.2B−7.7%$297.0M−70.9%0.07$5.8B
Q2'23$12.9B−15.5%$1.5B0.35$2.8B

Track record

Compound annual growth by period. For debt and share count, negative is the good direction.

Series3y5y10y15y
Revenue−5.7%−7.5%−0.5%+1.3%
Operating cash flow−14.3%−23.0%−6.5%−3.6%
Free cash flow−9.0%−2.5%+0.5%
EPS (diluted)−56.7%−38.3%−14.4%−5.4%
Equity+4.1%+7.1%+6.5%+5.7%
LT debt+5.4%+5.4%+8.2%+22.6%
Diluted shares+3.2%+1.4%−0.8%−1.5%
Stock price+36.2%+11.9%+11.6%+13.1%

$100, 3 years ago

$252vs $176 in SPY

36.2% vs 20.7%/yr

$100, 5 years ago

$175vs $181 in SPY

11.9% vs 12.6%/yr

$100, 10 years ago

$300vs $412 in SPY

11.6% vs 15.2%/yr

$100, 15 years ago

$633vs $813 in SPY

13.1% vs 15.0%/yr

The $1 test — market value created per $1 of earnings retained (Buffett's hurdle: at least $1)

Last 10 years

$1.79

$90.5B created / $50.5B retained

Quality & capital discipline

Cash-based returns and how management deploys capital

Cash ROIC

6.1%

OCF ÷ (equity + debt)

OCF / EV yield

2.0%

MC vs 10× OCF

4.69

≤1 = priced under 10× OCF

Debt / FCF

SBC / FCF

Owner earnings

−$7.4B

OCF − capex − SBC

OE yield

-1.6%

Share count 5y

−1.5%

per year; negative = buybacks

Capital intensity

net PP&E ÷ revenue

Sales efficiency

$135.67

new PP&E per $1 new revenue, 5y

Growth engine (5y): reinvested 47.1% of operating cash flow at an incremental return of -74.7% — an organically fundable growth rate of about -35.2% per year (growth ≈ reinvestment rate × incremental ROIC).

Checklist

6 of 19 checks pass · 32%. Checks with structurally missing inputs are excluded.

Growth & Consistency

1/5

  • Revenue growth

    -7.5% · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%

    fail
  • EPS growth

    · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%

    na
  • FCF growth

    · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%

    na
  • Revenue rises consistently

    5 of 9 · up in ≥ 7 of last 10 years

    fail
  • FCF consistently positive

    6 of 10 · positive in ≥ 8 of last 10 years

    fail
  • Profitable every year

    8 of 10 · net income > 0 in ≥ 8 of last 10

    pass
  • Cash flow keeps up with sales

    -23.0% vs -7.5% · OCF CAGR ≥ 0.9× revenue CAGR

    fail

Profitability

1/7

  • Net margin

    -0.5% · ≥ 8%

    fail
  • Operating margin

    -4.2% · ≥ 10%

    fail
  • Gross margin stable or rising

    34.8% vs 42.6% · no drop > 2 pts over 3y

    fail
  • Return on equity

    -0.2% · ≥ 12%

    fail
  • Cash ROIC

    6.1% · ≥ 12%

    fail
  • FCF margin

    -9.4% · ≥ 5%

    fail
  • Earnings back their cash

    OCF $9.7B vs NI −$267.0M · OCF ≥ net income (latest FY)

    pass

Balance Sheet

2/3

  • Debt payable from cash flow

    · LT debt ≤ 3× FCF

    na
  • Cash cushion

    32% · cash ≥ 50% of LT debt

    fail
  • Leverage

    0.39 · LT debt ≤ 1.5× equity

    pass
  • Equity positive and compounding

    $114.3B · equity > 0 and grew over ~5y

    pass
  • Interest burden

    -49% · interest ≤ 15% of operating income

    na

Capital Allocation

2/2

  • Share count flat or shrinking

    -1.5% · ≤ +0.5%/yr over ~5y

    pass
  • Stock comp restrained

    · SBC ≤ 15% of FCF

    na
  • Distributions funded by FCF

    · dividends + buybacks ≤ 100% of FCF

    na
  • Repurchases are a habit

    6 of 10 · buybacks in ≥ 5 of last 10 years

    pass

Valuation Discipline

0/2

  • FCF yield

    -1.1% · ≥ 3%

    fail
  • Earnings multiple

    · P/E ≤ 25

    na
  • Price asks less than history delivered

    · implied FCF growth ≤ historical FCF CAGR

    na
  • Shareholder yield

    0.0% · dividends + buybacks ≥ 2% of market cap

    fail

Red flags

Mechanical checks — a flag is a question to investigate, not a verdict

Negative free cash flow

Operating cash flow did not cover capital expenditures in the latest fiscal year.

Net loss

The company reported a net loss in the latest fiscal year.

Margin compression

Gross margin has fallen by more than 5 points over the last three years.

Financial data

As filed in 10-Ks; per-share figures split-adjusted. $ in millions.

FYRevenueGross profitOp incomeNet incomeEPSOCFCapExFCFDividendsBuybacksSBCCashLT debtEquityShares
202552,85318,375-2,214-267-0.069,69714,646-4,94902,43414,26544,086114,2814,530
202453,10117,345-11,678-18,756-4.388,28823,944-15,6561,5993,4108,24946,28299,2704,280
202354,22821,711931,6890.4011,47125,750-14,2793,08803,2297,07946,978105,5904,212
202263,05426,8662,3348,0141.9415,43324,844-9,4115,99703,12811,14437,684101,4234,123
202179,02443,81519,45619,8684.8629,45618,73310,7235,6442,4152,0364,82733,51095,3914,090
202077,86743,61223,67820,8994.9435,86414,25921,6055,56814,2291,8545,86533,89781,0384,232
201971,96542,14022,03521,0484.7133,14516,21316,9325,57613,5761,7054,19425,30877,5044,473
201870,84843,73723,31621,0534.4829,43215,18114,2515,54110,7301,5463,01925,09874,5634,701
201762,76139,09818,0509,6011.9922,11011,77810,3325,0723,6151,3583,43325,03769,6534,835
201659,38736,23313,13310,3162.1221,8089,62512,1834,9252,5871,4445,56020,64966,2264,875
201555,35534,67914,00211,4202.3319,0187,32611,6924,5563,0011,30515,30820,03661,0854,894
201455,87035,60915,34711,7042.3120,41810,10510,3134,40910,7921,1482,56112,05955,8655,056
201352,70831,52112,2919,6201.8920,77610,71110,0654,4792,1471,1185,67413,16558,2565,097
201253,34133,15114,63811,0052.1318,88411,0277,8574,3504,7651,1028,47813,13651,2035,160
201153,99933,75717,47712,9422.3920,96310,76410,1994,12714,3401,0535,0657,08445,9115,411
201043,62328,49115,58811,4642.0116,6925,20711,4853,5031,7369175,4982,07749,4305,696
200935,12719,5615,7114,3690.7711,1704,5156,6553,1081,7628893,9872,04941,7045,645
200837,58620,8448,9545,2920.9210,9265,1975,7293,1007,1958513,3501,18539,5465,748
200738,33419,9048,2166,9761.1812,6255,0007,6252,6182,7889527,30743,2205,936

Some concepts are structurally absent for certain industries (banks report no gross profit or capex). Missing ≠ zero.