Intel CFO says CEO Lip-Bu Tan is big on balance sheet discipline as US and Nvidia financing accelerate turnaround

“We took purposeful steps this quarter to strengthen our balance sheet, including accelerated financing from the U.S. government and investments by Nvidia and SoftBank Group that increase our operational flexibility and demonstrate the critical role we play in the ecosystem,” David Zinsner, Intel’s chief financial officer, said Thursday in a statement accompanying the company’s announcement.Third quarter 2025 earnings report.

Intel reported third-quarter 2025 revenue of $13.7 billion, up about 3% year over year, and non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.23, both beating analysts’ expectations. The company guided for fourth-quarter 2025 revenue between $12.8 billion and $13.8 billion, roughly in line with consensus estimates.

Huge cash infusion

In an unprecedented deal announced in August, Intel agreed to the transfer 9.9% of its shares are for the federal government In exchange for financing worth $8.9 billion. The government will not participate in Intel’s management or claim a seat on its board. However, the move has raised eyebrows among analysts and investors who worry that it may represent a new era of direct state intervention in private industry. Reuters reported.

In late September, Nvidia It agreed to invest $5 billion in the chip manufacturing company. Under the agreement, Intel will produce a new generation of chips that combine technology from the two companies, with Nvidia set to buy a portion of the resulting output. The partnership represents a major win for Intel, which for years underestimated the extent to which graphics processors would dominate AI computing — an area in which Nvidia now leads.

Nvidia has been a pioneer in turning graphics processing units, originally designed for gaming, into the workhorses of modern AI systems, securing a dominant position in the field.

Financial discipline and restructuring

During the earnings Q&A call, Zinsner was asked how new inflows from the US government, Nvidia and SoftBank will impact Intel’s capital expenditures and investment strategy. He pointed to the influence of his strategic partner, CEO Tan.

“When we think about these funds, our first focus is delivery,” he said. “When Lip Bo came in, he was really upset about the balance sheet. So we put a lot of work into improving that and making it better for him.”

Intel took $4.3 billion of debt off the books this quarter, and plans to pay off upcoming maturities later this year and next, he said. He added that the company now has more flexibility in its capital spending but intends to remain disciplined.

“We will definitely look at the demand,” Zinsner said. “Lip-Bu has been very direct with us about this.” Tan wants to “see the whites of the client’s eyes” before investing aggressively, Zinsner added. If that demand exists, Intel will increase CapEx as necessary, he said.

Since Tan’s appointment as CEO in March 2025, Intel has launched a comprehensive campaign Restructuring plan It expects to cut approximately 21,000 to 25,000 jobs (about 15%-25% of the “essential” workforce) by the end of the year. The company also says it will continue to hire Strategic growth areasIncluding the development of artificial intelligence.

Intel’s resurgence could have implications far beyond its balance sheet. like luck Editor-at-Large Jeff Colvin and Leila MacLellan recently wrote in a recent article Featured article“Saving Intel is not only vital to the company’s stakeholders. Its survival would have a profound impact on America’s national security.”

happy vacation.

Cheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com

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Fortune 500 power moves

Gallagher JeffExecutive Vice President and CFO of Murphy USA Inc. (No. 231 ) left the company effective October 14, and the company made this announcement on October 17. Jeff’s exit was not the result of any disagreement regarding the company’s operations, financial performance or condition, according to SEC filing. Donald R. Smith Jrthe company’s current vice president, chief accounting officer and treasurer, will serve as interim CFO. Smith has been with Murphy USA since its separation from Murphy Oil Corporation in 2013, initially serving as Vice President and Controller.

Every Friday morning, our weekly Fortune 500 Power Moves column tracks the transitions to executive positions at a Fortune 500 company —See latest edition.

More notable moves this week:

Earl Ellis He was appointed CFO Panera breada chain of fast food restaurants. Ellis most recently served as Executive Vice President and CFO of ABM Industries. During his tenure, he led global finance, accounting, investor relations and procurement, helped shape the company’s strategic plan, and implemented a multi-year transformation including an enterprise resource planning (ERP) modernization. Prior to ABM, Ellis held senior financial leadership roles at Best Buy, including CFO of Best Buy Canada and Senior Vice President of U.S. Finance, Canada Tire, Campbell Soup Company, Kraft Foods and Coca-Cola.

Thanks Sodipo He was appointed CFO at Manousheha fintech startup that connects financial institutions. Sodipo succeeds Eric Hart, who has returned to Expedia Group. Previously, she served as CFO at Glossier. Before that, Sodipo was head of product finance and strategy at payment services provider Stripe. She began her career in investment banking at Centerview Partners and later worked as a private equity investor at Helios Investment Partners and Insignia Capital Group.

Steve Sheen He was appointed Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the company Aerospace company (Space), as of October 20. Sheen most recently served as acting CFO at NASA during the presidential transition. Shane assumed increasingly responsible roles over the course of his 15-year career at NASA, including Deputy CFO, Deputy CFO for Center Operations, and CFO at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Prior to that, he was responsible for all annual business monitoring, projects, and business planning functions for the Space Division at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.

John Brenton He was promoted to CFO of NANO DIMENSION LIMITED. (Nasdaq: NNDM), a digital manufacturing solutions company, effective November 1. He will succeed Assaf Zibori, who will step down from his position. Brenton currently serves as Vice President of Global Finance and Corporate Controller, and has more than 30 years of experience in finance, accounting and corporate control. He spent nearly five years at Markforged, joining Nano Dimension following its acquisition, where he held senior financial leadership roles.

D. Anthony Scaglione He was appointed CFO Al-Zohour Foods Company (NYSE: FLO), effective January 1. He will succeed Steve Kinsey, who will retire from Flowers at the end of the year. Scaglione previously served as CFO of Total Wine & More, a wine, spirits and beer retailer. ODP, a global company specializing in business-to-business office equipment and services; and ABM Industries, a global services company. His leadership experience also spans strategy, real estate, procurement, mergers and acquisitions, and IT.

Melissa Van Haas He was promoted to CFO of Luttrell Employment GroupEffective October 2025. Van Haas joined the organization in 2020. She was most recently the Controller and previously served as the Finance Director. Prior to joining Luttrell, Van Haas worked as an auditor for a regional public accounting firm for seven years.

Ram Paudel He was promoted to CFO of KeyData CyberIdentity and access management provider. Bodell previously served as Vice President of Finance and has been a member of the Executive Leadership Team for the past seven years. He joined KeyData Cyber ​​in October 2018 as Financial Controller.

Big deal

Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Quarterly survey of the pulse of retail investorsreleased this week, finds that concerns about inflation remain. Nearly half of investors expect inflation to moderate during this quarter; However, this is still their biggest concern (45%). Tariffs and market volatility remain the top two and three concerns, respectively.

Another consequence is that more investors believe that interest rate cuts are on the horizon. More than two in five investors (41%) believe the Fed will cut interest rates by 0-0.25% at the next meeting — up 12 percentage points from last quarter, according to the report.

Go deeper

I heard

“Five years ago, I predicted that 95% of internet content would be generated by AI by 2025. It’s difficult to measure exactly where we are, but we will get closer in the coming years.”

—Victor Riparbelli, CEO and co-founder of Synthesia, writes in A luck Opinion piece.