During the second quarter, Intel decided to sell off its entire stake in Arm Holdings, bringing in about $147 million. In a similar vein, Intel also parted ways with its shares in cybersecurity firm ZeroFox and trimmed down its holdings in Astera Labs. This is all part of Intel’s broader strategy to manage costs and boost cash reserves as the company grapples with serious financial difficulties.
According to a recent filing with the SEC, Intel’s offloading of 1.18 million Arm shares is happening as the company faces hefty financial strains. Despite earning $147 million from this sale, Intel still reported a $120 million net loss on its equity investments for the quarter. This loss is just one piece of a larger $1.6 billion financial hole that Intel found itself in during this timeframe.
In addition to the Arm sell-off, Intel also withdrew its investment from ZeroFox and cut back its involvement with Astera Labs, a firm that specializes in creating connectivity platforms for enterprise hardware. These actions align with Intel’s plan to cut costs and strengthen its financial footing amid continuing market hurdles.
Previously, Intel’s investment in Arm was probably driven by strategic aims. Arm Holdings plays a pivotal role in the semiconductor world, as its designs are fundamental to most mobile devices—a realm Intel naturally wants to have a strong influence in. Moreover, Intel and Arm are joining forces to work on datacenter platforms tailored for Intel’s 18A technology. From Arm’s perspective, Intel isn’t just another investor; it’s a potential future client and a noteworthy ally for other businesses using Arm’s designs.
The decision to invest in Astera Labs also appears to be rooted in strategy. Intel likely wanted to ensure consistent access to smart retimers, smart cable modems, and CXL memory controllers, which are key components in datacenters. Given Intel’s interest in dominating the datacenter CPU market, securing these supplies made perfect sense.
Earlier this month, Intel’s financial troubles took center stage with an unsatisfactory earnings report, which subsequently triggered a 33% tumble in its stock value, wiping out billions in market capitalization. In response, Intel unveiled plans to slash 15,000 jobs and introduce further cost-cutting measures. Moreover, the company has put its dividend on hold, underscoring the seriousness of its cash conservation efforts as it works on getting back on track. Although letting go of its Arm shares was a strategic move, it seems that the immediate need for financial stabilization nudged Intel to make the call.
