Intel stock was falling early Monday after the company said it would raise $15 billion in a stock offering. It's a reminder that the chip maker's expansion of production to meet demand comes with a hefty price tag.

The shares were down 3.3% at $98.28 after it filed an S-3 shelf registration related to the offer, which allows companies to register securities with the SEC in advance without having to sell them immediately.

The company said it expects to grant a 30-day option for its underwriters to purchase up to an additional $2.25 billion worth of shares at the public offering price, which is yet to be confirmed.

The move shouldn't come as much of a shock. Intel management said in its recent earnings call that they were raising their 2026 capital expenditure estimates to more than $20 billion, up from around $18 billion, as the company works to meet the rising demand of its products.

The company's free cash flow is expected to be modestly negative this year, according to FactSet and was a cumulative negative $44 billion between 2022 and 2025. However, it is investing heavily amid hopes that its current 18A and future 14A chip-manufacturing processes can attract outside customers and therefore offset the billions of dollars' worth of quarterly losses it is booking in its foundry unit.

"Customers continue to signal a strong and sustainable demand environment, driven by unprecedented investment in AI compute," Intel said in a statement Monday. "Progress in emerging areas including physical AI, purpose-built silicon, advanced packaging and external wafers represent significant growth opportunities for Intel."

The stock was one of Barron's picks for 2026 and is up more than 175% this year through Friday's close, although it has dropped 21% in the past three months.