Intel’s warning of a prolonged PC slowdown hit computer makers’ shares after its October 29, 2026, earnings report. Dell and HP each fell more than 7% in overnight trading, while Intel’s own late-trading decline was reported at different levels. The warning came alongside forecasts for lower PC shipments in both 2026 and 2027.
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How Dell, HP and Intel shares moved
A contemporaneous report put HP’s overnight decline at 7.4% and Dell’s at 7.2%. In the regular session, HP had fallen nearly 2%, while Dell closed down 3.7%.
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Market-data page snapshots showed year-to-date gains of 41.22% for HP and 270.33% for Dell. Those figures provide context for the stocks’ gains before the sell-off, but they are separate snapshots rather than a matched comparison of returns immediately before Intel’s announcement.
Intel’s late-trading loss also varied across reports: Reuters reported a fall of about 18%, Bloomberg reported 21%, and another Reuters report described a 23% after-hours drop. These are different reported readings, not one settled figure for the move.
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Intel’s PC shipment outlook
Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan projected PC shipments would decline 12% in 2026 and 10% in 2027. Intel also warned that the slowdown could continue through at least the first half of 2027.
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Tan said the correction had accelerated over the prior two months. He linked the slowdown to memory prices and availability, and said original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) were managing inventory to match weaker sell-through. The available excerpts do not establish a specific recovery trigger or a detailed forecast for each half of 2026.
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Memory costs add pressure to PC demand
Intel’s reporting pointed to memory shortages and higher component prices as headwinds for PC makers and buyers. As costs rose, PC prices increased, adding pressure to demand.
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The available sources support that near-term cost-and-demand connection, but do not verify a specific forecast that memory prices will remain elevated into 2028. Nor do they establish that AI demand alone caused the memory constraints.
Counterpoint’s third-quarter shipment figures
A report citing Counterpoint Research’s preliminary data said global PC shipments fell 21% year over year to 57 million units in the third quarter of 2026. It reported declines of 31% for HP and 25% for Dell.
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That report also said Counterpoint expected a 27% year-over-year drop in global shipments in the fourth quarter, with volumes flat in 2027. These are Counterpoint figures as reported by the outlet, not Intel’s shipment forecast.
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Intel’s revenue outlook and factory disruption
Intel forecast fourth-quarter revenue of $15 billion to $16 billion, below analyst expectations of around $17 billion in the cited reports. The weak PC outlook was not the only pressure on the forecast: Intel also said an explosion at its Israeli factory, which was shut for about two weeks, would cost roughly $600 million in revenue over two quarters.
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Together, the PC warning, higher input costs and factory disruption help explain why Intel shares also fell sharply. The share-price reports differ in their precise late-trading readings, but they point to a broad market reaction to weaker PC demand and a lower revenue outlook.
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