Intel stock fell to $64.25 at 13:55 UTC on Friday, down 30.22% from Thursday’s $92.07 close. That is 29 cents below $64.54, the level that matches the 29.9% fall of 5 July 1974, which Yahoo Finance data reported as the worst single day in the company’s listed history.
The shares have since recovered to $66.34, a fall of 27.95%, which according to the same TradingView INTC data puts that 55-year mark back out of reach unless they fall again before the close. The stock has already passed the 26.1% drop of 2 August 2024 that held second place until this morning.
Where Intel Stock’s Fall Ranks Against 1974 and 2024
The 1974 comparison has been repeated all morning without the number attached to it, which is what makes ranking Intel stock today harder than it looks. Yahoo Finance puts the 5 July 1974 fall at 29.9%, which on a $92.07 starting point works out at $64.54. That is the benchmark, and it has stood for 55 years.
The August 2024 session is the more useful reference. CNBC reported Intel falling 26.1% that day to close at $21.48, taking its market value below $100 billion, and called it the worst day since 1974. At 27.95% Friday’s fall is already larger than that, and at the $64.25 low it was larger than 1974 as well.
One caveat belongs with any claim about the 1974 comparison, because the two published figures for that session are not the same. Yahoo Finance gives 29.9%, which Intel stock passed intraday, while some accounts of the 2024 crash put the 1974 fall nearer 31%, equivalent to $63.53, which it did not reach.
The pale extension on the 2026 bar crosses the 1974 line, which is where Intel traded at 13:55 UTC before recovering. Source: Yahoo Finance, CNBC, TradingView · Chart: FinanceFeedsThe Intel Stock Level That Decides the Record Is $64.54
The arithmetic behind that level is simple enough for anyone to check at the close. From the $92.07 starting point, a 29.9% fall lands at $64.54 and a 26.1% fall at $68.04. Intel stock went through both levels during the session and is currently holding between them.
The scale of the move is easier to grasp in dollars than in percentages. On roughly 5.28 billion shares, the move from $92.07 to $66.34 removes about $136 billion of market value, and at the $64.25 low it was nearer $147 billion. MarketWatch put the figure at $140 billion earlier in the session. Market capitalization now stands at $350.57 billion.
Investor Takeaway
Intel stock fell 30.22% to $64.25 at 13:55 UTC, which on Yahoo Finance’s 29.9% figure for July 1974 is the deepest intraday fall of its listed life.
The Quarter Beat and the Guidance Did the Damage
Nothing in the quarter Intel actually reported explains a move of this size. Revenue was $16.51 billion, up 21%, with non-GAAP earnings of $0.52 a share against $0.23 a year earlier, ahead of Intel’s own guidance on revenue, margin and earnings.
The forecast that came with it is where the whole thing broke apart for investors. Fourth-quarter revenue is guided to $15.0 billion to $16.0 billion against roughly $17 billion expected, with non-GAAP earnings of $0.25 and a gross margin of 38.0%. Chief financial officer David Zinsner told analysts that 2027 is unlikely to produce positive free cash flow, with gross capital expenditure holding at $20 billion this year and rising sharply next. A fatal explosion at the Kiryat Gat plant on 14 October accounts for about $300 million of the fourth quarter and roughly 200 basis points of that margin guide.
Susquehanna cut its target to $75 from $105 and StoneX to $100 from $140, and Dow Jones Newswires reported the result triggering a broad semiconductor selloff that carried into the S&P 500 on October’s last session. The cash flow warning is the part that connects Intel to the week’s other results, from Alphabet’s negative $9.07 billion quarter through the debt-funded data center buildout to Oracle’s $225 billion revenue target funded on bonds above 8%.
Intel Stock Is Still Up 74% in a Year That Followed Its Worst on Record
Context cuts entirely the other way on any timeframe longer than a single day. Intel stock is up 74.00% in 2026 and 60.41% over twelve months even after Friday, which is the unusual part of a 28% session. It is down 43.45% over one month and 32.05% over three.
That run came straight off the floor of a historically bad year for the company. CNBC reported Intel losing 61% in 2024, its worst year since the 1971 listing, with the shares bottoming near $18 that December. A beta of 3.74 is the statistical version of a stock that can do both inside 24 months. The next scheduled test is the fourth-quarter report on 28 January 2027, which carries the 2027 capital expenditure figure and the first-quarter charge from Kiryat Gat.
Investor Takeaway
Intel stock is still up 74.00% for 2026 after a 28% session, so this resets a rally rather than extending a decline.
