By Tae Kim

Intel stock was wavering Thursday after the chip maker gave a softer-than-expected revenue forecast for the March quarter. Meanwhile, Intel's interim co-CEOs told Barron's there was no update around timing for the completion of the company's permanent CEO search.

For the fourth quarter, Intel reported adjusted earnings of 13 cents a share, slightly above Wall Street's consensus estimate for 12 cents, according to FactSet. Revenue came in at $14.3 billion, which was above analysts' expectations of $13.8 billion.

Guidance was disappointing, though. Intel provided a revenue forecast range of $11.7 billion to $12.7 billion for the current quarter, versus the consensus call of $12.9 billion. The company projects adjusted EPS of zero cents for the March quarter, compared with the nine-cent estimate.

"Our renewed focus on strengthening and simplifying our product portfolio, combined with continued progress on our process roadmap, is positioning us to better serve the needs of our customers," Michelle Johnston Holthaus, interim co-CEO of Intel and CEO of Intel Products said in the earnings release.

Intel shares were waffling between negative and positive territory in after hours trading on Thursday, following the results.

In December, Intel announced its CEO, Pat Gelsinger, would retire effective immediately and it was searching for a permanent replacement. In the interim, Intel executives David Zinsner and Holthaus are serving as co-CEOs.

In a phone interview with Barron's, Zinsner said the first-quarter outlook reflected macro uncertainties, along with some demand that was pulled forward by customers to the December quarter on worries about potential tariffs under the Trump administration.

When asked about the permanent CEO search, Holthaus said there was no update on timing and it was "progressing." She also reiterated Intel would consider using Taiwan Semiconductor for manufacturing the company's data center CPUs if it "made sense" in the future. The success of DeepSeek also told her Intel should make more types of AI products, adding it showed "when you put limitations around people, people innovate and find new ways to bring products to market."

Intel shares have declined 54% over the past 12 months, compared with a 10% gain for the iShares Semiconductor ETF.

Write to Tae Kim at tae.kim@barrons.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 30, 2025 16:47 ET (21:47 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.