Forensic Analysis · Semiconductors · as of Aug 7, 2026
Intel Corp (INTC)
A forensic read on Intel Corp built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
D · Weak — demands caution
Forensic grade
Safe
Financial health
7.1
Distress distance
Clean
Earnings quality
6
Forensic signals
-48.1
P / E (ttm)
-0.2%
ROE
$497.8B
Market cap
1.14%
Dividend yield
-0.5%
Revenue growth
This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (red flags, auditor quality, say on pay, board independence). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.
Intel Corp earns a D (Weak — demands caution) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 7.1, placing it in the Safe zone. 6 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by return on invested capital.
What the filings flag
-0.9%
FY2025
Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is -0.9% in the latest fiscal year and slipping from 1% — well below its ~10% cost of capital, so reinvested dollars may be destroying value, not building it.
+3.2%/yr
FY2022–FY2025
Share-count dilution.Diluted share count changed +10% over the last 3 years to FY2025 (+3.2%/yr). A change of direction: the count shrank over the full period (net -1.3%/yr since FY2011) but has grown across the recent window, so the two figures point opposite ways — read the recent window on totals versus per-share, since the full-period rate no longer describes what the count is doing now. That's ~3.2% shaved off per-share growth every year — total profit has to grow that much just to keep earnings-per-share flat, and a stake held since FY2022 has been diluted ~9%.
5% of rev
FY2025
Stock-based comp load.Stock-based compensation ran 5% of revenue in FY2025 — about $0.54 per diluted share. The cost of it is not in the cash flow — no cash left the business — it is in the count: holders gave up about 3.2% of the company a year, and that rate is not falling. That is the figure to weigh, not the share of free cash flow.
stopped
FY2024→FY2025
Shareholder returns — halted.Capital returns have STOPPED — $1.6B of buybacks + dividends in FY2024, but ~$0 in FY2025. A halt usually means the company is conserving cash.
suspended
FY2024→FY2025
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$52.85B
Revenue Growth YoY-0.5%
Revenue CAGR (3yr)-5.7%
Net Margin-0.5%
Free Cash Flow-$4.95B
Return on Equity-0.2%
Debt / Equity0.41x
The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. Want the AI investment read on top — the 0–100 rating, thesis, bull-vs-bear, red flags and the 12-month scenario, written from Intel Corp's actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?
The dividend has been SUSPENDED — $1.6B paid in FY2024, then $0 in FY2025. A suspension is a major signal the board is conserving cash; the prior payment history doesn't offset it.
126d
FY2024→FY2025
Inventory days.Days inventory outstanding moved from 119 to 126 FY2024→FY2025 (against cost of goods sold; inventory -5% vs -4% in cost of sales). Inventory is building a little faster than sales — watch for markdowns.