Due to uncertain business prospects, the US semiconductor group Intel is questioning its billion-dollar growth plans. "Without clearer commitments from customers, I will not put billions of dollars into equipment for chip factories," CEO Pat Gelsinger said on Wednesday. "Because the economic environment continued to deteriorate in the fourth quarter, our free cash flow fell below our minimum threshold."
The quarterly payout will be cut by about two-thirds to $0.125 per share. This is the lowest value in 16 years. "This was a painful but necessary step," said Credit Suisse analyst Chris Caso. As a result, Intel shares rose briefly by a good three percent and were recently slightly in the red.
At the end of January, the semiconductor manufacturer had warned of a slide into the red after disappointing quarterly results. Against this background, Intel wants to save up to ten billion dollars by 2025, three billion of them this year alone. According to Gelsinger's earlier statements, this also includes "personnel measures", but he has not yet provided any information on the scope.
Among other things, Intel is planning to build a chip factory in Magdeburg. According to a media report, the group is now demanding ten instead of the originally planned 6.8 billion euros in subsidies due to increased prices. Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner replied in a newspaper interview that the federal government was examining the framework conditions. At the same time, however, he stressed that the state was not susceptible to blackmail.