The Intel logo is displayed connected a motion successful beforehand of Intel office connected July 16, 2025 successful Santa Clara, California.
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Fitch downgrading U.S. chipmaker Intel's credit rating by 1 notch Monday, according to a enactment by the ratings agency, which assigned a antagonistic outlook to Intel's rating.
Fitch downgraded Intel to BBB from BBB-plus, placing it conscionable 2 notches shy of junk credit status.
The downgrade follows Fitch's appraisal that Santa Clara, California-headquartered Intel faces heightened challenges maintaining demand for its products. Fitch cited increasing contention from peers specified arsenic Dutch rival NXP Semiconductors, Broadcom Inc and Advanced Micro Devices.
"Credit metrics stay anemic and volition necessitate some stronger extremity markets and palmy merchandise ramps, on with nett indebtedness simplification implicit the adjacent 12-14 months" for Intel to retrieve its recent ratings, Fitch analysts wrote connected Monday.
Fitch added that portion Intel holds a amended marketplace presumption than different likewise rated peers, its fiscal operation is comparatively weaker and it faces "higher execution risk."
Intel inactive enjoys a beardown marketplace presumption successful the proviso of PCs and accepted endeavor servers, Fitch noted, portion informing the institution faces heightened PC contention from Qualcomm and AMD.
Intel volition request to ramp up its PC shipments portion besides reducing its equilibrium expanse indebtedness to retrieve its previous credit ratings, Fitch said.
The ratings bureau called Intel's liquidity illustration "solid," which arsenic of June 28 consisted of a $21.2 cardinal premix of cash, currency equivalents and short-term investments, arsenic good arsenic an untapped $7 billion credit revolver. It besides had an undrawn $5 billion, 364-day revolver that volition travel owed successful January 2026, Fitch said.
Fellow ratings bureau S&P Global similarly downgraded Intel's credit rating to BBB from BBB-plus successful December, portion Moody's Ratings downgraded its elder unsecured debt's rating in August past year.
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