New Delhi, July 24 -- SANTA CLARA - Intel's second quarter looked, for the first time in recent memory, like a company catching the wave rather than watching it pass. Revenue hit $16.1 billion, up 25 percent from the same period a year ago, with the data center and AI segment up 59 percent to $6.3 billion. Every number landed above analyst estimates.

The catch is in the bottom line. Intel recorded a GAAP loss of $2.16 per share for the quarter. The headline profit that Wall Street actually tracks, non-GAAP earnings, came in at $0.42 per share, and even there the company is being generous about what it excludes. Restructuring charges, share-based compensation, and amortization costs are not small.

Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan, who took the...