What caused INTC's earnings to beat forecasts in 2024?

Intel's earnings beat forecasts in 2024 can be attributed to **Strategic Missteps and Intensifying Competition**: 1. **Strategic Missteps**: Intel's stock performance in 2024 was marked by a staggering 60% loss in market value, ending with its worst stock performance since going public in 1971. This decline was due to strategic missteps, leadership changes, and intensifying competition. The company's failure to capitalize on the wave of innovation in the chip sector, particularly in artificial intelligence (AI), further exposed its weaknesses. 2. **Intensifying Competition**: The rise of AI and the dominance of Nvidia in the AI hardware market with its industry-leading graphics processing units (GPUs) left Intel struggling to regain relevance. Intel's server chips lagged behind competitors like Nvidia and AMD, leading to a significant loss of market share. This competitive landscape made it challenging for Intel to keep up with the rapid evolution of the semiconductor industry. In conclusion, Intel's earnings beat forecasts in 2024 despite these challenges, indicating a potential turnaround or specific factors contributing to their financial performance, such as operational efficiency improvements or market conditions favoring their core business segments. However, the overall context of strategic missteps and intense competition suggests that these factors may not be sustainable or indicative of a strong, competitive position in the market.