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Intel dives on China risk, downbeat analyst view on TSMC deal

So much for one of the few bright spots in Thursday’s market collapse.

4/4/25 11:07AM

Shares of struggling US semiconductor icon Intel tumbled sharply on Friday, a day after a headline-driven surge made it one of the only bright spots in the tariff-battered US markets.

On Friday, Intel succumbed to the strength of the tariff shock, perhaps due to China’s retaliatory 34% tariff on all US goods announced today. Last year, China accounted for the largest share, 27%, of Intel’s net revenues.

Probably slightly less impactful was a brief note published by analysts covering Intel shares for Citi. Titled “Intel Stock up 7% on TSMC JV Report. The Wrong Move in our Opinion. Continue to Believe Intel Should Exit Foundry,” the note seemed to pour cold water on the business prospects for the joint venture between TSMC and Intel that investors have been fixating on. They wrote:

“We do not believe TSMC operating/forming a JV with Intel would work given differences in manufacturing and operations and continue to believe Intel should exit the merchant foundry business and stick with manufacturing its own chips.”

Hyunsoo Rim

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RH slips after missing Q2 estimates and trimming its outlook amid cost pressure

Restoration Hardware shares dropped Friday morning after the luxury furniture brand missed Q2 estimates and tightened its full-year outlook.

Adjusted earnings per share came in at $2.93, below the Street’s estimate of $3.21. Revenue was $899.2 million, also missing analysts’ forecast of $905 million.

RH now expects full-year revenue growth of 9% to 11%, down from prior guidance of 10% to 13%, as margins get squeezed by tariffs and weakness in the housing market. Wall Street had been looking for about 10% growth this year.

The retailer is taking steps to blunt cost pressures, including shifting sourcing away from China. RH expects receipts to fall from 16% in Q1 to 2% in Q4, with vendors absorbing a meaningful portion of the tariff impact. RH is also boosting US manufacturing capacity in North Carolina and pushing back a new concept launch to next spring.

RH shares are down about 43% year to date.

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Super Micro rises as the company begins shipments of Nvidia Blackwell chips

Super Micro Computer jumped over 6% in premarket trading on Friday after the company announced it has started shipping “Plug-and-Play (PnP)-ready” racks powered by Nvidia’s new Blackwell Ultra chips, giving data center customers a ready-made option to scale up their AI infrastructure.

The rollout enables what SMCI calls “turn-key day-one” operations, with the entire racks preassembled and tested to work out of the box.

“Data center customers face many AI infrastructure challenges: complex network topology and cabling, power delivery, and thermal management,” CEO Charles Liang said. “Through Supermicro Data Center Building Block Solutions with our expertise in on-site deployment, we enable turn-key delivery of the highest-performance AI platform — critical for customers seeking to invest in cutting-edge technology.”

The company says the new system’s performance jumps up to 7.5x over Nvidia’s previous-generation chips. It’s also designed to run more efficiently, using less power and water while taking up less floor space, cutting the overall operating costs by 20%, according to the statement.

The launch comes after a rocky August, when SMCI’s shares plunged on weaker-than-expected quarterly results and management trimmed its annual revenue target.

Investors in Super Micro have endured much volatility this year, as the company has failed to deliver on multiple occasions. Even so, the shares are up nearly 50% year to date.

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