Intel Unloads $147M Arm Stake Amid Financial Woes and Layoffs

Intel recently divested its 1.18 million shares in chip designer Arm amid the company's financial challenges and layoffs. The latest 13F form from Intel reveals that it no longer holds any shares in the British semiconductor firm. In the previous quarter, Intel owned 1,176,470 shares of Arm Holdings valued at approximately $147 million. While Intel has not provided public commentary on the share sale, the buyer remains undisclosed. Arm continues to be primarily owned by the Japanese investment firm SoftBank.

In the past, Intel faced competition from various Arm-based chips in the CPU market. However, Intel and Arm subsequently collaborated on embedded systems within the Yocto Project, facilitating the development of Linux-based software optimized for embedded systems. As recently as March, Intel announced plans to partner with Arm on building low-power system-on-chips utilizing its 18A process.

Intel's decision to part ways with its Arm shares aligns with its efforts to reduce expenses and generate funds to address its current financial challenges. The company's stock price remains below $20, with shareholders responding negatively to its announcement of a 15% reduction in its workforce, translating to approximately 17,000 job cuts. Additionally, Intel is exploring voluntary redundancies, offering a redundancy package to qualified employees in Ireland. The company is also confronted with several lawsuits concerning malfunctions related to its 13th and 14th-generation Raptor Lake CPUs, stemming from issues with excessive voltage leading to hardware damage.

Adding to Intel's setbacks, it was reported recently that the company declined an opportunity to invest in OpenAI for $1 billion in 2017 due to its perception that generative AI was not a short-term market prospect. Consequently, Nvidia stepped in to provide GPUs to the startup, resulting in a dominant presence within the hardware market.