Intel’s drop on Friday shaves the US government’s equity stake by about $10 billion. It’s still up 3x since last August.

On Friday, Intel's share price experienced a significant decline, dropping nearly 30%, which resulted in a reduction of over $11 billion in the value of the US government's equity stake in the company. Despite this setback, the investment remains lucrative overall.

Last August, during the Trump administration, the government acquired a 9.9% equity stake in Intel at a price of $20.47 per share, as noted in a press release from the company. This initial investment involved 433.3 million shares and had a value of approximately $8.9 billion. Earlier this year, the company's stock surged, closing at $92.07 per share on Thursday, which would have valued the government’s stake at around $39.9 billion.

However, the stock took a significant hit on Friday following Intel's earnings report released the previous night. By the end of the trading day, Intel's shares closed at $65.76, indicating a new estimated value of the government's stake at $28.5 billion.

This dramatic fluctuation highlights the volatility often associated with government investments, posing challenges for a key aspect of the Trump administration's investment portfolio, which now includes stakes in 40 companies, according to a tracker from the CATO Institute.

The decline in Intel's stock price came after the company announced that its fourth-quarter revenue forecast fell short of analysts' expectations, coupled with a more significant drop in PC revenue than anticipated. Intel is now projecting fourth-quarter revenue between $15 billion and $16 billion, falling short of the $17 billion that analysts had predicted. Moreover, the company is expecting earnings per share of $0.25, compared to the anticipated $0.43.

As a result of this revised outlook, Intel faced substantial losses, with reports indicating that at one point on Friday morning, the company was on track for its worst losses since 1974. Overall, Intel's market value plummeted by nearly $150 billion.

The investment in Intel has been a point of emphasis for the Trump administration, which has maintained that it will provide significant returns for taxpayers. In September, a post on Truth Social featured an image of Trump in the Oval Office, portrayed as a stock trader with Intel's share price displayed at $95.

While Trump has previously claimed substantial gains from stock investments, stating, "I've made Hundreds of Billions of Dollars on Stocks, and many other type Holdings, for the U.S.A., not myself," the reality is that the investment in Intel continues to yield profits, ending Friday’s trading session more than three times the original purchase price.

This story has been updated with the latest financial details.

Ben Werschkul serves as a Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.