Dell, HP shares fall after Intel warns of long PC slump

Shares of Dell Technologies ↘ 10.77% and HP Inc. ↘ 9.58% fell on Thursday, October 29, and kept falling in overnight trading after Intel ↘ 28.58% said the personal-computer downturn will run well into 2027. Dell closed 3.7% lower in the regular session and dropped another 7.2% overnight, according to Stocktwits reporting carried on TradingView. HP fell nearly 2% during the regular session, then 7.4% overnight. The two companies are among the largest PC makers, so Intel's forecast weighs directly on their sales. Before the drop, Dell had gained 282% this year and HP 48%, the same report said.tradingview.com

Intel's grim PC forecast

On its earnings call, Intel said it expects PC unit shipments to fall about 12% in 2026, with second-half units down more than 20%, according to the call transcript. It is planning for a further decline of about 10% in 2027. The company said the drop will be steeper in the first half of that year. The Wall Street Journal News Corp ↘ 1.37% attributed those figures to Chief Financial Officer David Zinsner.wsj.com+1

"The pace of this PC correction has accelerated over the last two months as our OEM partners are aggressively managing inventory to match the softer sell-through," CEO Lip-Bu Tan said, according to the transcript. "We expect the current environment to persist until memory availability and prices begin to normalize."finance.yahoo.com

Intel's own shares fell more than 20% in after-hours trading, CNBC reported Comcast Corporation ↗ 4.27%. The company forecast fourth-quarter revenue of $15 billion to $16 billion, below analysts' estimate of about $17.1 billion. Intel also said an explosion at its factory in Israel would cost it about $600 million in revenue over two quarters, Reuters reported Thomson Reuters Corporation ↗ 1.63%.cnbc.com+1

Memory crunch hits PC makers

The main cause of the slowdown is a shortage of memory chips, much of it driven by AI demand, which has pushed up component costs and PC prices. Bloomberg said laptop and desktop makers are dealing with "shortages of memory semiconductors and surging component prices." The Journal reported that Intel expects memory prices to stay high into 2028.bloomberg.com

The damage was already showing. Counterpoint Research said global PC shipments fell 21% from a year earlier in the third quarter, according to 24/7 Wall St.. HP's shipments fell 31% and Dell's 25%, and Counterpoint expects a further 27% drop in the fourth quarter.247wallst.com

Long-term demand outlook

Tan said Intel still sees a healthy market for its processors beyond the near-term slump. "Despite near-term headwinds across the PC industry, demand for our CPUs remains robust, reinforcing our confidence in the long-term growth opportunities for our business," he said, as reported by the Journal. HP and Dell are expected to report results around November 24, though neither company has confirmed a date, according to 24/7 Wall St..wsj.com+1