Intel takes a major step toward turning around a business that's bleeding cash

By Britney Nguyen

Intel's new manufacturing process has entered a stage that signals the company is confident in its ability to bring on external customers, analysts say

Intel announced Tuesday that its 18A-P process node is in risk production.

Intel's central processing units have Wall Street excited right now, but what really matters for the company's financial turnaround is whether it can secure manufacturing customers. And on Tuesday, the company took a step in the right direction.

The chip maker (INTC) said Tuesday that it has entered "risk production" for the 18A-P variant of its 18A node family. That means its chip-manufacturing process is mature enough for initial production to begin.

The upgraded process node delivers higher performance for intense artificial-intelligence workloads with improved power efficiency compared to 18A, the company said. It is also compatible with 18A designs, Intel said, so customers can build on the process node without having to redesign chips.

"The fact that they're willing to go to risk production means they're ready to take on external customers," Dan Hutcheson, vice chair of TechInsights, told MarketWatch.

The risk-production phase, which typically takes six months to a year, is when Intel will learn how its 18A-P process node works across different chip cores before the company can go into general production, Hutcheson explained, adding that Intel has already built internal products on the chip technology.

Given the speed at which chip makers currently have to move to meet the needs of customers, the progress with 18A-P is "a critical milestone in Intel's recovery," he said. Intel's Embedded Multi-die Interconnect Bridge chip-packaging technology is another area where it's leading, according to Hutcheson.

Earlier this year, Intel introduced its first consumer and commercial versions of its personal-computer chips built on the 18A node that have so far validated its process technology and packaging, Creative Strategies CEO Ben Bajarin told MarketWatch.

While Intel had not initially planned to put customers on 18A-P, demand has surged for computing and chip manufacturing due to the artificial-intelligence buildout. That has driven interest in 18A-P, Bajarin said, while Intel has also been able to improve its chip yields and process-design kits with the variant.

"It's a big step up," Bajarin said, adding that Intel looks "in a position to now get customers and bring those customers into Intel Foundry on its process technology."

Meanwhile, Wall Street has pinned much of Intel's turnaround on the success of its upcoming 14A process node in attracting customers to its foundry.

Intel's foundry "has consistently been a loss leader," Bajarin said. The unit posted a $2.4 billion operating loss in the March quarter.

If 18A-P takes off with customers, it could offer a lot of upside to revenue and margins, Bajarin added.

-Britney Nguyen

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06-16-26 1849ET