Quote Of The Day -- July 24, 2025

Locator: 48828FIRED.

Does JPow have his hard hat on backwards? 

On another note, Spinal Tap II opens in theaters this fall. 

Intel's Second Quarter Results And Comments -- CEO Says Intel Might Be Forced To Exit The Chip-Manufacturing Business -- July 24, 2025

Locator: 48827INTEL.

Note: Jim Cramer says tech companies need to be spending more, not less. Link here. 

Updates

July 25, 2025: INTC sinks 0ver 7% in pre-market trading day after earnings released. Winner after Intel's earnings released? AMD.

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Intel -- INTC

From late last night:

Intel better hope the market has a great day tomorrow. Intel is going to ride the coattails of whatever the tech market does tomorrow. No matter what Intel reports tomorrow, share price will be determined by:

• Intel's guidance during the conference call; and,
• sentiment for the overall microchip market.

Links everywhere. This is a nice summary of Intel's history since the original iPhone was introduced. That was in 2006, when Intel passed on the opportunity to supply chips for the Apple phone which had not yet been introduced. No doubt Steve Jobs was as secretive and as ruthless as ever to get the best deal possible. Whatever. Intel passed on the opportunity in 2006. Based on some stories it sounds like Intel didn't necessarily say "no." Intel simply didn't get back to Steve Jobs. Internally, Intel felt they couldn't afford to be distracted by the iPhone. They had their own strategic plan. 

If you want that story from a trusted source, or simply enjoy schadenfreude, here's the prompt for ChatGPT:

When the iPhone was introduced, it is said Intel passed on providing chips for the iPhone. Is that true and if true about what year was that?

Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone in January 2007. Apple ended up choosing Samsung to manufacture its ARM-based chips. 

Anyway, all of that for background to this link. The link is great; Moz Farooque tells a great story, but the ads make it a mess and it's simply easier to go to ChatGPT.

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Intel's 2Q25 Earnings

When CNBC began reporting the numbers today, things did not seem so bad, but the more one got into the details, the worse it got.

Initially, Intel shares -- might have actually gone up a bit -- but once the details emerged, shares prices began to fall again. 

We'll see tomorrow, but notes taken from WSJ and Reuters once the analysts had a chance to really dive in ... well, it looked like a real mess. 

If all the tech companies were struggling now, Intel might not look so bad, but the rest of the industry is expanding and spending, not cutting and looking for a Plan B.

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Notes From The WSJ and Reuters

For updates following today's conference call: link here.

Intel is a mess — from today’s WSJ and Reuters:

• 
jobs cuts
• will layoff 15% of workforce
• after a huge cut in personnel, already now down to 96,000, Intel will continue to cut to get to 75,000

• at first glance those numbers don’t “rhyme,” but here’s the explanation from Reuters: 
• the company is cutting its workforce by 15% from 96,400 that it reported at the end of June, and plans to further reduce the company’s headcount to 75,000 by end of the year. 
• the remainder of the cuts to bring the headcount to 75,000 will be through attrition and “other means,” according to the company .. 
• so that explains it — a 15% cut takes the 96,400 to 81,940 and then the additional 6,940 through attrition, etc.

• facility construction
• will slow / stop construction

• will scrap plans to spend tens of billions of dollars on new facilities in Poland and Germany;

• in the US, of note, will slow construction on new facilities in Ohio (having taken money from the government for these projects they don’t have the option of canceling those projects)

• the company will also consolidate chip packaging operations in Costa Rica with its other packaging operations in Vietnam and Malaysia

• strategy, going forward: 
• will refocus its strategy on the highly competitive market for AI chips

• will launch its Panther Lake line of mobile processors, the first product to be made using 18A, later this year

  
• but having said that, Intel is betting the farm on its 14A technology , 
• buried in the Reuters article: 
• if Intel fails to find a significant external customer for 14A, Intel may be forced to exit the chip-manufacturing business 
• Intel says it will maintain the option to use chips made by other foundries if they cancel the 14A but still need improved performance

• June quarter:

• revenue flat at $12.9 billion
• 
wow, although, earnings loss was less than expected, nonetheless Intel’s loss for the second quarter widened to $2.9 billion from a $1.6 billion in the year earlier period
• 
this is the company’s sixth-consecutive quarterly loss, extending its longest streak in 35 years
• most concerning: sales in its PC chip division — the company’s largest segment — fell 3% from a year earlier to $7.9 billion but beat analyst expectations

• tt a time when “all the others” are increasing CAPEX — and by huge amounts — Intel is cutting CAPEX

• and then look at this: the company forecasts steeper third-quarter losses than wall Street estimated, despite anticipating higher sales than analysts expected

• the company said it expects a third-quarter loss of 24 cents per share, steeper than estimates of losses of 18 cents per share 
• buried at the end of the Reuters article, June quarter:

• adjusted loss of 10 cents per share vs estimates of a profit of one cent per share
• 
unadjusted loss of 67 cents per share vs estimates of 26 cents per share

• unadjusted loss was trending towards three times the estimate 
• the adjusted loss was more than ten times the estimate, and the estimate was for a slight profit, not a loss. 

The six-month chart:

Three New Permits; Fourteen Permits Renewed; Four DUCs Reported As Completed -- July 24, 2025

Locator: 48826B.

July 25, 2025: INTC sinks 0ver 7% in pre-market trading day after earnings released. Winner after Intel's earnings released? AMD.  

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Back to the Bakken

WTI: $66.03. 

Active rigs: 32.

Three new permits, #42154 - #42156, inclusive:


• Operator: Devon Energy

• Field: Painted Woods (Williams County)
• 
Comments:

• Devon Energy has permits for three Trans Am wells, SWSW 3-154-103, 
• to be sited 1091 / 1181 FSL and 386 FWL

Fourteen permits renewed:


• Enerplus (7):
• a Ridley permit and a Loggerhead permit, both in Antelope oil field, McKenzie County;
• five Fort Berthold permits in Eagle Nest, Dunn County;
• 
Hess (5):
• five SC-JW Hamilton permits, Long Creek, Williams County;

• Silver Hill (2): 
• a Herseth permit, Gros Ventre, Burke County; a Sundhagen C permit in Big Meadow, Williams County;


Four producing wells (DUCs) reported as completed:


• 41177, 2,400, CLR, Kenneth 4-17H1, Williams County;
• 41179,1,629, CLR, Kenneth 5-17H1, Williams County;
• 41180, 2,206, CLR, Helen 6-8H1, Williams County;
• 41249, 1,397, Thronson Federal 10-28H, Mountrail County; 

Well name changes:

• BR: five permits; 
• it appears, based on the names, the wells will reflect section line wells, 2560-acre spacing rather than 1280-acre spacing; 
• four Omlid wells and one Abercrombie well, all in McKenzie County;

Much Could Be Said -- July 24, 2025

Locator: 48825MARKET.

From CNBC today, ahead of Intel's earnings report today:

• $10,000 in NVDA ten years ago would be worth today: $3.0 million.
• $10,000 in INTC ten years ago would be worth today: $10,000.

Fact checked via ChatGPT:

• $10,000 in NVDA ten years ago would be worth today: $3.6 million.
• $10,000 in INTC ten years ago would be worth today: $10,100.

Much could be said.

In the past three years?

• NVDA: $43,000 today.
• INTC: $6,300 today (about $4,000 less than the amount originally invested.

While gaming is still a major revenue source, 2016 was the pivotal year when Nvidia officially positioned itself as an AI computing company, not just a gaming GPU maker. 

INTC today -- Intel releases earnings after the market closes later today.

CVX In The News -- Venezuela -- Trump Gives Chevron The Green Light -- July 24, 2025

Locator: 48824CVX.

First: Hulk Hogan dies at age 71.

Now back to Chevron.