Intel Grooms Its Supply Side

With supply concerns sinking Intel's(INTC Quote) stock to a three-month low, the chipmaker's progress in meeting customer demand will be a key issue during its midquarter update Thursday afternoon.

During the company's most recent quarterly earnings report in mid-July, CFO Andy Bryant said Intel's factories were running completely full and that it was missing out on revenue opportunities because it couldn't make enough chips.

This prevented the company from boosting its gross margin target for the back half of the year, typically Intel's strongest period. Investors saw this as an indication that the best of times had come and gone; the stock subsequently dropped from a one-year high of $28.71 to its current level of $25.66. ...