(Reuters) – S&P International Scores on Tuesday downgraded chipmaker Intel Corp’s credit standing to ‘BBB’ from ‘BBB+’, on sluggish enterprise restoration and uncertainty following administration modifications.
The chipmaking icon’s income for the primary 9 months of this 12 months, which was roughly flat year-on-year at $38.84 billion, was beneath the scores company’s expectations, S&P International mentioned.
The departure of CEO Pat Gelsinger, who was important to the Intel’s built-in manufacturing technique, additionally provides uncertainty to the execution of the corporate’s turnaround plan, S&P International mentioned.
“Regardless of the corporate’s assurances that enterprise technique will stay largely unchanged, we nonetheless assume some degree of change beneath the brand new CEO, which might add to uncertainty of the timing of the enterprise turnaround,” the scores company mentioned.
Gelsinger’s departure got here properly earlier than the completion of his four-year roadmap to revive the corporate’s lead in making the quickest and smallest pc chips, a crown it misplaced to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
S&P International, nevertheless, stored its firm outlook “steady” to replicate its view that Intel will expertise progress after a modest restoration subsequent 12 months.
(Reporting by Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Enhancing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)