Intel shares surged 17% in after-hours trading Thursday, surpassing a 2000 high, after the chipmaker reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results and forecasts. The company recorded first-quarter revenue of $13.6 billion, up 7% year-on-year and well above Wall Street's $12.4 billion estimate. Intel expects $13.8-$14.8 billion in revenue for the current quarter, beating analyst projections.

The jump reflects Intel's growing position in the booming AI data center market, where its data center and AI products generated $5.1 billion in revenue during the quarter. Chief executive Lip-Bu Tan attributed this to "increasing the need for Intel's CPUs and wafer and advanced packaging offerings" as AI model training shifts to inference computing that requires more CPUs per GPU. Recent partnerships with Elon Musk and investments from Nvidia and SoftBank have boosted investor confidence.

Despite reporting a net loss of $3.7 billion due to a $3.8 billion Mobileye-related writedown, Intel achieved adjusted net income of $1.5 billion and foundry revenue of $5.4 billion. The company's manufacturing turnaround continues as Musk plans to use Intel's upcoming 14A manufacturing process for SpaceX and Tesla chips, potentially making him the first major customer for the advanced technology.