As part of Intel's internal reshuffling, separating its chip-making facilities into Intel Foundry and everything else as Intel Products, the company filed awith the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. In this document, the full picture of how well the foundry service was performing became clear and with operating losses of $7 billion in 2023, more than $2B worse than the previous year, it's clear that Intel has a lot of work to do to turn that around.
The 8-K does show that Intel Products, as a division, is doing very well and in the earnings call, CFO David Zinsner, states that the operating margins are consistently strong, despite decreases in revenue. Intel has long-term targets of 60% and 40% for its gross and operating margins, respectively. Making Intel Foundry into a TSMC/Samsung-like business is going to be no small feat. It's not just about having sufficient investment for it, it's about having the same tools, resources, and services on offer as the competition. When you've spent almost 50 years making chips almost entirely for yourself, there's no call to make even basic documentation widely accessible and of a certain standard.
Intel's future multi billion dollar mega-fab is set smack-bang on top of multiple neolithic burial sites