Expensive explosion: How an accident in Kiryat Gat led to the loss of nearly a quarter of Intel's value

A workplace accident at Intel's Kiryat Gat plant, where a gas cylinder exploded, led to the deaths of two workers and a two-week shutdown. The CFO revealed that the shutdown will hurt fourth-quarter revenue by about $300 million, and the company's stock is plunging in after-hours trading, with fears of wiping out about $120 billion of its value.

A workplace accident at Intel's Kiryat Gat plant, where the neck of a gas cylinder exploded during unloading from a truck, led to the deaths of two workers, Ilya Chechulin (49) and Yakir Kosashvili (35), and the injury of a third worker. The plant, FAB28, which produces 10-nanometer chips, has been closed for two weeks. In an investor call, CFO David Zinsner revealed that the shutdown is expected to hurt fourth-quarter revenue by about $300 million and reduce gross profit by 2%. Investor reaction led to a sharp decline in Intel's stock in after-hours trading, bringing it closer to wiping out about $120 billion of the company's value. The article notes that Intel is heavily dependent on the Israeli plant for the production of laptop and server processors, alongside challenges in the PC market and the memory chip supply chain.