Intel's CFO indicated the company is considering splitting divisions as the chipmaker grapples with competitive challenges.

Intel Corp's Chief Financial Officer Dave Zinsner did not rule out the possibility of splitting the company's factory and product-development divisions as the next CEO takes charge. Zinsner is serving as Intel's interim co-CEO along with Michelle Johnston Holthaus following Pat Gelsinger's exit after he failed to impress the board with his turnaround efforts. Zinsner said during the conference that Intel's two divisions were already separate in terms of their operating structure, which is in sharp contrast to Gelsinger's plans to maintain the two units together. The co-CEOs stressed that it would take time to fix Intel's moat and flagged challenges regarding data center products and outsourcing of contract manufacturing efforts.

Intel stock has plunged 57% year-to-date as the company failed to tap the current enterprise customer shift to artificial intelligence technology. This contrasts sharply with competitors: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSM) stock is up 89% year-to-date, and Nvidia Corp stock is up over 185% year-to-date. Additionally, Intel also failed to boost its artificial intelligence accelerator chip business as its Gaudi chip could not gain traction in a market led by Nvidia.

Holthaus said that Intel will focus on updating generic graphics-chip offerings to make them competitive, with 2025 focused on containing Intel's market-share loss. The co-CEOs hinted at a possible sale of Intel's manufacturing operations should the new chipmaking technology fail to gain traction, Reuters reported. During Taiwan Semiconductor founder Morris Chang's autobiography launch, he highlighted Intel's need for a new strategy and CEO.

Truist Securities and Benchmark analysts recently flagged that Intel's separation of the foundry business could cost the $7.8 billion U.S. chip subsidy. Intel Corp traded higher by 0.29% to $20.84 premarket at the last check on Friday.