Shares of Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) rose 6% Thursday after the Company reported better-than-expected third-quarter earnings.

Intel posted earnings of USD 1.40 per share, excluding certain items, compared to the USD 1.15 per share expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv. Revenue rose 19% year over year, coming in at USD 19.16 Billion, versus USD 18.11 Billion as expected by analysts, according to Reuters.

Looking ahead, Intel forecasted USD 1.22 in earnings per share, excluding certain items, on USD 19 Billion in revenue in the fourth quarter. Analysts were expecting fourth-quarter earnings of USD 1.09 per share, excluding certain items, on USD 18.39 Billion in revenue, according to Refinitiv.

Intel raised its guidance for the full year to USD 4.53 in earnings per share, excluding certain items, on USD 71.2 Billion in revenue. Analysts were expecting USD 4.16 in earnings per share, excluding certain items, on USD 69.54 Billion in revenue, according to Refinitiv.

Intel shares have dropped 3.1% this year, while most large tech companies have notched gains and the Nasdaq has risen 6.6%. Brian Krzanich resigned as Chief Executive Officer in June, and Intel has been searching for his replacement.

Meanwhile, the Company has been delayed in deploying technology for future generations of chips, though it's moving forward on 10-nanometer chips, which are expected to be more power efficient than past processors.

"We are making good progress on 10nm," Intel said in a tweet earlier this week. "Yields are improving consistent with the timeline we shared during our last earnings report."

Despite the market optimism, Wall Street has some big questions for the Company going into its earnings call Thursday — its second call and its first full fiscal quarter since its Chief Executive Officer Brian Krzanich resigned in June over an inappropriate workplace relationship.

The market has been rocky across the board, but Intel's competitor AMD felt its wrath acutely on Wednesday after missing guidance on sales for the quarter. AMD's shares fell 20% in after hours trading Wednesday. The stock remains down nearly 17%.