The U.S. government is holding an unrealized gain of approximately $26.5 billion from its investment in Intel after the company’s shares surged more than 22% following stronger-than-expected first-quarter earnings.
The stake originated from an August agreement in which $8.9 billion in funding from the CHIPS Act and Secure Enclave initiatives was converted into 433.3 million Intel shares at $20.47 each. This gave the government roughly a 9.9% ownership stake. With Intel shares trading near $81.80 in pre-market activity, the holding is now valued at about $35.4 billion, nearly tripling in less than a year. The government also holds warrants to purchase an additional 5% stake at $20 per share, which are now deeply in profit.
Strong Earnings Driven by Data Center and AI Growth
Intel reported first quarter revenue of $13.6 billion, representing a 7% year-over-year increase and exceeding Wall Street expectations of $12.4 billion. Non-GAAP earnings per share reached $0.29, outperforming consensus estimates that predicted a $0.01 loss.
Growth was largely fueled by Intel’s Data Center and AI segment, which climbed 22% to $5.1 billion as demand for Xeon processors increased during the global expansion of AI infrastructure. CEO Lip-Bu Tan noted that rising demand for inference and agentic AI workloads is significantly boosting the need for Intel CPUs.
Intel forecast second quarter revenue between $13.8 billion and $14.8 billion, signaling continued confidence in AI-driven demand and strengthening the value of the government’s long-term investment position.
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