Intel sells stake in chip designer Arm Holdings

(Reuters) -Intel, which is cutting thousands of jobs as it struggles to stay relevant in the chip industry, sold its 1.18 million share stake in British chip company Arm Holdings in the second quarter, a regulatory filing showed on Tuesday.

According to Reuters calculations, Intel would have raised about $146.7 million from the sale, based on the average price of Arm’s shares between April and June.

The chipmaker said earlier this month it would cut more than 15% of its workforce and suspend its dividend amid a slump in spending on traditional semiconductors for data centers and a shift to AI chips, where it is lagging behind rivals like Nvidia .

Intel has said it is focusing on developing advanced AI chips and expanding its rental manufacturing capabilities as it seeks to regain the technological edge lost to Taiwan’s TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker.

The push to revive the contracting foundry business under CEO Pat Gelsinger has increased Intel’s costs and squeezed profit margins, forcing the company to pursue cost cuts.

Intel and ARM declined to comment on Tuesday when contacted by Reuters about the share sale.

“This appears to be consistent with the restructuring plan and renewed focus on liquidity and efficiency that Gelsinger outlined during the last conference call,” said Benchmark Co analyst Cody Acree.

Santa Clara, California-based Intel had cash and cash equivalents of $11.29 billion at the end of June, and total current liabilities of about $32 billion.

Intel shares have lost more than 59% of their value so far this year, falling 26% on August 2 after the company suspended its dividend. During extended trading on Tuesday, the price was almost flat.

(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru and Juby Babu in Mexico City; Additional reporting by Max Cherney in San Francisco; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar, Sayantani Ghosh and Subhranshu Sahu)