AMD and Intel stocks rose on Friday, rebounding after a sector-wide sell-off a day earlier as investors returned to select technology shares despite weakness across the broader market.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) gained 2%, while Intel was up 1.76%. Technology stocks advanced as investors assessed the outlook for artificial intelligence spending and semiconductor demand ahead of the upcoming earnings season.
The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.10%, while the S&P 500 fell 0.42% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1.09%.
Technology gained 0.43%, making it the second-best-performing S&P 500 sector behind energy, which advanced 2.50%.
Only two of the S&P 500's 11 sectors traded higher.
Intel was also in focus after Wedbush Securities highlighted the potential contribution of additional manufacturing capacity to the company's revenue growth.
Wedbush analyst Matt Bryson said the installation of equipment at Intel's Fab 62 facility in Arizona was consistent with expectations that production would begin in 2028.
However, he noted that it remained unclear whether the initial production lines would use Intel's 18A or 14A process technology.
Bryson said additional capacity was important because existing constraints were limiting Intel's ability to meet customer demand, particularly for Xeon server processors.
In his view, these constraints were also weighing on revenue growth and the company's ability to optimise its product mix.
Intel Foundry CTO and COO Naga Chandrasekaran said this week that construction and equipment installation were underway at Fab 62, the company's sixth high-volume manufacturing facility at its Ocotillo campus in Arizona.
Operations are expected to begin by the end of 2027, although Intel has not disclosed which manufacturing node the facility will use or its planned production capacity.
Intel has also reported progress at other US facilities.
Its plant in New Albany, Ohio, received its first major structural truss, while its Oregon development fab integrated a High-NA extreme ultraviolet lithography machine.
Susquehanna updated its price targets for several semiconductor companies ahead of earnings season, reflecting differing expectations across the sector.
The firm raised its AMD price target to $620 from $550 and increased its Qualcomm target to $185 from $160. However, it lowered Intel's target to $105 from $115.
Susquehanna analyst Christopher Rolland said artificial intelligence would likely drive much of the semiconductor sector's potential upside, while the broader industry upcycle continued.
Rolland noted that semiconductor lead times had expanded by approximately two weeks for a second consecutive quarter in the firm's SemiSIGnals data.
He also highlighted increasingly aggressive pricing, including a 12% quarter-on-quarter increase in the third quarter of 2025, with further price increases expected in the fourth quarter of 2026 and into 2027.
However, the PC market outlook has weakened.
Rolland said third-quarter original design manufacturer builds were tracking significantly below previous expectations, pointing to potentially below-seasonal second-half results for AMD and Intel's client businesses.
Both companies are shifting wafer capacity from PC processors towards server products to address demand associated with agentic AI.
Rolland said the scale of potential server growth would depend on how quickly additional capacity becomes available.
He also noted that Arm-based hyperscale CPUs were expected to gain share as host processors for custom AI accelerators, while memory supply constraints could weigh on smartphone demand.
Meanwhile, expanding hyperscaler capital expenditure plans continued to support data centre demand, although power and infrastructure constraints raised questions about how much planned capacity could be delivered.
Intel (INTC +1.72%) is set to post its third-quarter results after the closing bell on Thursday, Oct. 29. And lately, the trading session after an Intel report has been wild.
The stock dropped 17% the day after Intel's January report, surged 24% after April's, and fell 8% after July's. These three moves average about 16% in one session.
With shares near $93 as I write, a move that size would mean about $15 a share up or down.
But the quarter Intel had just finished didn't set the direction. The company topped its own financial forecast all three times, and the stock still dropped twice. I think what management said about the coming months mattered more every time.
Image source: Intel.
January and AprilIn January, Intel posted fourth-quarter 2025 revenue of $13.7 billion and $0.15 in non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings per share, both above the company's own outlook. But management forecast first-quarter 2026 revenue between $11.7 billion and $12.7 billion, with break-even adjusted earnings per share. The midpoint of that revenue range was around 11% under the fourth quarter's total.
"We expect our available supply to be at its lowest level in Q1 before improving in Q2 and beyond," CFO David Zinsner said in the January earnings release.
Shares dropped 17% the next day.
Three months later, the outlook pointed up. Intel's first-quarter revenue of $13.6 billion was $1.4 billion over the midpoint of its forecast. Adjusted earnings per share of $0.29 also beat the break-even level management had guided for, but Zinsner said around 6 cents of that came from a one-time gain.
What's more, Intel forecast second-quarter revenue of $13.8 billion to $14.8 billion, up 2% to 9% over the first quarter. The stock surged 24% on April 24 -- its best day since 1987.
Why did the stock fall in July?July's report was arguably the best of the three. Second-quarter revenue of $16.1 billion was up 25% from the year before and $1.8 billion above the midpoint of Intel's forecast. Revenue in its data center and AI segment jumped 59% year over year. Adjusted earnings per share landed at $0.42, more than twice the $0.20 management had guided for.
Yet the third-quarter forecast looked flatter. Its revenue midpoint of $16.3 billion sat only about 1% above the second quarter, and Intel guided for adjusted earnings per share of $0.38, down from $0.42. Intel also lifted its 2026 capital spending outlook to over $20 billion, which Zinsner said was "up significantly versus our expectations entering the year."
That 1% is a steep slowdown in Intel's sequential growth. Revenue was almost flat from the fourth quarter of 2025 to the first quarter of 2026, dipping less than 1%. Then it climbed around 19% sequentially in the second quarter. A forecast of about 1% more is a big step down from that rate.
Shares fell 8% the next day, after briefly trading up early in the session. Granted, chip stocks broadly slid that day, too, so not all the drop was about Intel. Still, for the second time this year, a strong quarter wasn't enough to stop the stock from falling.
The fourth-quarter forecast might matter mostThis makes Intel's fourth-quarter outlook arguably the number to watch on Oct. 29. In July, Zinsner said the timing of Intel's supply growth was "more skewed toward the end of Q3 and into Q4, especially for servers."
INTC Intel$86.96+$1.47 (+1.72%)
NASDAQ · As of 4:00 PM ET 10/23/26
If this supply comes through, the fourth-quarter forecast might call for revenue rising again from the third quarter. A forecast for adjusted earnings per share over the $0.42 Intel earned in the second quarter may also show profits are growing again, not just sales.
To be fair, Intel's forecasts have been easy to beat lately. It topped its revenue midpoint by $1.4 billion and $1.8 billion over the past two quarters. But the stock has still dropped after two of its last three reports, both times alongside a forecast that pointed lower or flatter. And at around 44 times expected earnings for 2027, shares arguably already count on growth returning.
A 16% swing isn't a given, either. A year ago, the day after Intel's third-quarter 2025 report, the stock moved under 1%.
Personally, I wouldn't buy shares before the report. At around $93, I'd want to see what Intel forecasts for the fourth quarter first.
Intel Corp. (INTC, Financials), the chip maker, has secured a one-year exemption from the Federal Communications Commission to continue to use some foreign-built robotic equipment in its U.S. plants.
The FCC said the exemption was designed to avoid any disruptions to domestic chip production.
Intel has warned that constraints might stop it from making software, firmware and hardware updates to autonomous guided vehicles used to transport materials within its operations.
The corporation stated that there are no established U.S.-based substitutes that satisfy its operating standards. Replacing the systems might take years and might disrupt production
This concerns since the vehicles have been utilized in Intel facilities for more than two decades and are embedded in day-to-day fab operations.
The waiver also underscores a larger contradiction in U.S. industrial strategy. The U.S. is trying to lessen its reliance on Chinese technology, and scale up its own chip manufacturing.
The exception buys Intel time. It reduces a short-term operational risk but the fundamental reliance persists.
The other thing to monitor is if Intel can find domestic substitutes before the waiver runs out, or whether it will seek another extension.
When most investors think of Nokia (NOK +3.81%), they probably remember the brick phones that pioneered mobile devices decades ago. What you may not appreciate is that the Finnish company is quietly undergoing a renaissance, and artificial intelligence (AI) is at the center of its transformation.
Nokia has built telecommunications infrastructure spanning networks that connect mobile devices and transport data. Given the AI infrastructure boom, the company is smartly leveraging these assets to become a supplier of AI networking equipment.
One of the biggest believers in this strategy is Nvidia (NVDA +0.23%). While Nvidia has made a number of strategic investments in chip and foundry specialists like Intel or neocloud providers like CoreWeave, I think its most lucrative partnership might be with Nokia.
The semiconductor giant invested $1 billion in Nokia last year, establishing a framework that stands to reshape the telecommunications industry. Following Nokia's third-quarter earnings report, investors have fresh evidence that its AI-driven transformation is gaining momentum.
Image source: Getty Images.
How Nokia is evolving from phones to AI Last October, Nvidia invested $1 billion in Nokia, acquiring 2.9% of the company. The two companies are collaborating on artificial intelligence radio access networks (AI-RAN), which combine traditional wireless networking equipment with accelerated computing. Essentially, Nvidia and Nokia are turning telecommunications networks into distributed AI platforms.
This is important because much of the current AI revolution revolves around data centers. However, emerging applications involving autonomous vehicles, robotics, industrial automation, and connected devices will require AI processing closer to where information is actually generated. This process is known as edge AI, and according to data compiled by Omdia, the AI-RAN market is expected to exceed $200 billion by 2030.
NOK Nokia$8.18+$0.30 (+3.81%)
NYSE · As of 11:40 AM ET 10/23/26
Nokia's earnings reveal where the real growth is happening During the third quarter, Nokia generated 5.2 billion euros in revenue. On the surface, this may look mundane, as it represented only 9% growth year over year on a constant-currency basis. Operating profit increased 35% to 605 million euros, while earnings per share (EPS) climbed 50% to 0.09 euros.
The most impressive performance came from Nokia's AI & Cloud division. Revenue from these customers increased 123% year over year to 631 million euros, while order intake surged 118%. Nokia secured approximately 1.5 billion euros in new orders during the quarter.
Data source: Nokia investor relations.
One subtle theme to understand here is that Nokia's acquisition of Infinera has helped expand its optical networking capabilities and strengthen the company's ability to supply high-speed connectivity required for AI infrastructure. The company's position in the AI infrastructure ecosystem should not be discounted. Nokia is working with companies including Alphabet, which is pursuing a 13 billion-euro investment in Finland, as well as major telecoms players like Zayo and neocloud providers developing AI inference connectivity.
Is Nokia stock a buy? I think the biggest reason to be bullish on Nokia is its position within the broader AI infrastructure supply chain. When investors think about the capital expenditures (capex) that Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Meta Platforms are pouring into AI development, they typically default to GPUs and memory chips.
However, the AI build-out requires more than semiconductors. As hyperscalers build more data centers, they also need high-speed optical networking equipment to move information between computing systems.
In other words, the pick-and-shovel suppliers of AI extend well beyond chips. They also include networking equipment, optical systems, and underlying connectivity infrastructure that keep data centers functioning. Nokia fits squarely into this opportunity.
I think this is an underappreciated part of the broader AI investment thesis. Many investors understand why Nvidia benefits when hyperscalers purchase GPUs, but they may not fully grasp how much spending is also flowing downstream toward the companies supplying the underlying networking infrastructure.
At around a 2.6 price-to-sales (P/S) ratio, I see Nokia as a compelling AI infrastructure investment for long-term investors. Considering Wall Street expects hyperscaler spending to continue accelerating, Nokia's AI story may still be in its early stages. Against this backdrop, I think there is meaningful upside potential in buying and holding Nokia stock throughout the AI infrastructure era.
Adam Spatacco has positions in Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Intel, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
After rising incredibly in the first half of 2026, Intel (INTC -8.04%) stock has run into rough weather in recent months. Shares of the semiconductor specialist are down by 31% since the beginning of July.
However, Intel stock could get a nice shot in the arm following the release of its third-quarter results on Oct. 29. Let's look at the reasons why Intel's upcoming report could give the stock a much-needed boost.
Image source: Getty Images.
Strong server processor demand will be a tailwind for IntelThe demand for server central processing units (CPUs) has taken off this year. Artificial intelligence (AI) data centers that handle inference and agentic AI workloads are driving increased demand for server CPUs. What's more, the strong demand means server CPUs are now in short supply, which has led to higher prices.
INTC Intel$85.49-$7.47 (-8.04%)
NASDAQ · As of 4:00 PM ET 10/22/26
It is reported that Intel has already implemented cumulative CPU price hikes of 30% in 2026, with the latest increase occurring on Oct. 5. I won't be surprised to see further price hikes as the shift toward agentic AI and inference is going to supercharge the server CPU market. That's because the ratio of CPUs to GPUs (graphics processing units) in an inference-oriented AI data center is moving to 1:1. That's a major shift compared to the CPU-to-GPU ratio of 1:4 or 1:8 in a standard AI data center.
McKinsey estimates that inference workloads will account for 60% of AI compute demand by 2030, compared to 40% this year. As a result, the demand for server CPUs should continue to remain robust over the long run. Meanwhile, Intel noted in its July earnings call that "server CPU demand continues to far outpace available supply." This indicates that the favorable pricing environment that has helped Intel beat Wall Street's earnings per share (EPS) expectations handsomely in each of the last four quarters is sustainable.
Analysts are expecting a 21% jump in Intel's Q3 revenue to $16.5 billion. The company's earnings per share could jump by 74% year over year to $0.40, according to consensus estimates on Yahoo! Finance. The estimates sit slightly higher than the midpoint of Intel's revenue guidance of $16.3 billion and EPS guidance of $0.38.
However, the company could easily meet elevated Wall Street expectations given recent CPU price hikes and the shift toward CPU-centric AI workloads. This explains why analysts expect Intel's earnings to triple on a year-over-year basis in the current quarter to $0.44 per share. Its revenue growth is also expected to accelerate to 25% in Q4.
Importantly, analysts anticipate Intel's EPS growth rate to accelerate in 2028.
INTC EPS Estimates for Current Fiscal Year data by YCharts
The stock is expensive, but it can justify the valuationIntel trades at just under 50 times forward earnings. While that's expensive when compared to the tech-focused Nasdaq-100 index's forward earnings multiple of 21, the big earnings beats that Intel has delivered in recent quarters explain the premium valuation.
Also, we have seen that Intel's earnings are growing at an incredible pace this year. The potential 3x year-over-year increase in the chip giant's bottom line in Q4 could spark a massive rally in this semiconductor stock in the final months of 2026. Moreover, we have seen that there is a strong likelihood of Intel actually delivering such a massive bottom-line jump due to the favorable demand-supply dynamics in the server processor market.
Investors should note that Intel's rally can continue in 2027 as well, driven by the strengthening AI infrastructure build-out. SemiAnalysis, which provides independent research on the semiconductor industry, notes that global data center capacity could increase by 51.2 gigawatts (GW) in 2027, double the estimated addition of 25 GW in 2026.
Given that the majority of this additional capacity could be allocated for inference-focused workloads that require server CPUs, Intel could have an even better year in 2027. So, investors looking to add a top AI stock to their portfolios can consider utilizing Intel's recent drop to buy its shares, as there is a strong likelihood that its Oct. 29 earnings report could set it up for a strong finish to the year.
Intel: A Notable Increase in Quarterly RevenueIntel Corp. (INTC -8.04%) primarily generates revenue by designing, developing, manufacturing, and marketing a broad array of central processing units, discrete graphics hardware, and advanced semiconductor components that serve diverse original equipment manufacturers, enterprise cloud service providers, and general consumer markets globally.
It recently closed an upsized $20 billion public offering of common stock, and it simultaneously initiated a new round of targeted workforce reductions within its data center and artificial intelligence operational groups.
Qualcomm: Experiencing Fluctuating and Declining Revenue PatternsQualcomm Inc. (QCOM -2.88%) earns most of its revenue by creating essential integrated circuits for modern mobile communication devices and by licensing an extensive global portfolio of fundamental wireless technology patent rights to diverse hardware manufacturers operating across international markets.
It recently completed the strategic acquisition of a specialized software platform called Modular, and it subsequently announced detailed plans for upcoming global workforce reductions to align its organizational structure with a changing corporate strategy.
Why Revenue Matters for InvestorsRevenue here refers to the data provider's standardized income-statement revenue line item, which plainly shows investors the exact total amount of financial capital a business generates from its primary day-to-day commercial operations before any operating expenses, internal overhead costs, or corporate taxes are deducted from the final recorded total.
Intel vs. Qualcomm Revenue over the last 8 quarters.
Quarterly Revenue for Intel and QualcommCalendar quarterIntel RevenueQualcomm RevenueQ3 2024$13.3 billion (quarter ended Sept. 28, 2024)$10.2 billion (quarter ended Sept. 30, 2024)Q4 2024$14.3 billion (quarter ended Dec. 28, 2024)$11.7 billion (quarter ended Dec. 29, 2024)Q1 2025$12.7 billion (quarter ended March 29, 2025)$11.0 billion (quarter ended March 30, 2025)Q2 2025$12.9 billion (quarter ended June 28, 2025)$10.4 billion (quarter ended June 29, 2025)Q3 2025$13.7 billion (quarter ended Sept. 27, 2025)$11.3 billion (quarter ended Sept. 28, 2025)Q4 2025$13.7 billion (quarter ended Dec. 27, 2025)$12.3 billion (quarter ended Dec. 28, 2025)Q1 2026$13.6 billion (quarter ended March 28, 2026)$10.6 billion (quarter ended March 29, 2026)Q2 2026$16.1 billion (quarter ended June 27, 2026)$9.9 billion (quarter ended June 28, 2026)Foolish TakeQualcomm has grand designs on supercharging its revenue by another $20 billion by 2029, primarily through a partnership with OpenAI to produce chips for a ChatGPT-optimized mobile phone. But investors should pay attention to its current run of up-and-down quarters by revenue. Sales are the lifeblood of any business, and Qualcomm's poor trend is a reflection of weakness in its core handset chip business. Weak Chinese demand and a scarcity of memory due to AI have caused handset-derived sales to fall below prior-year levels.
Qualcomm is in value stock territory -- its price-to-sales ratio is 4.8, which is low for a tech stock--but the risks to its core handset market and the speculativeness of it being a supplier for a yet-to-be-developed ChatGPT smartphone.
Intel's revenue trend isn't immune from dips, as the chart shows, but the recent quarters show a healthy rise in sales.
With both businesses, the chart shows some seasonality in revenue. Note how first-quarter sales dip from fourth-quarter sales. In each company's most recent second quarter, Intel sees revenue jump from its prior second quarter, while Qualcomm's dips from its prior year period. That's a crucial divergence to note.
Intel is pressing on with its plan to revive its business. This spring it announced a partnership with Space Exploration Technologies Inc (SPCX -9.14%) and Tesla Inc (TSLA -3.08%) to build Terafab, a massive AI chip-making plant aiming to produce as many as 200 billion AI chips a year. Intel is providing its foundry expertise and its 14A process, an effort to produce 1.4-nanometer chips it announced two years ago and is still developing. Also this year, Intel agreed to help develop an AI-centric chip for the Google division of Alphabet Inc.(GOOG -3.08%), too. Last year, the company raised investments from the U.S. government and SoftBank to improve its capital position.
The Federal Communications Commission said on Thursday it has granted a waiver to Intel (INTC.O) from its ban on some foreign-made advanced robotics.
The FCC said it would grant a one-year waiver of its rules in order to prevent "potential disruptions in the availability of domestic semiconductor manufacturing services for Intel’s customers."
Intel in a petition last week said the robotic devices are critical to its US semiconductor manufacturing. Without the waiver, Intel would not have been allowed to make software, firmware, and hardware changes for its "Automated Guided Vehicles" that it said could be classified by the agency as robots.
Intel told the FCC there is a lack of proven domestic alternatives that meet operational requirements and replacing the automated guided vehicles would take Intel years and could disrupt its manufacturing operations.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The vehicles are used to transport materials within Intel's semiconductor facilities and have been in operation for over two decades, the company said.
In July, the FCC barred imports of new Chinese robots and power inverters, seeking to protect the US AI buildout from national security threats and reshore key industries slated for explosive growth.
The FCC barred imports of new Chinese humanoid and quadruped robots, in addition to connected power inverters. The FCC has since granted some approvals to allow for continued specific robotic device imports.
Some analysts forecast broad adoption of humanoid robots, topped with AI-enabled "brains," in consumer and industrial arenas, while explosive data-center construction in the US will depend on reliable sources of inverters.
Intel (INTC -8.04%) stock fell 8.1% on Thursday, Oct. 22, as rising oil prices and concerns about AI spending drag on chip stocks. Brent crude topped $112 a barrel following attacks in Saudi Arabia.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.2% and 2.6%, respectively.
INTC Intel$85.49-$7.47 (-8.04%)
NASDAQ · As of 4:00 PM ET 10/22/26
Expensive oil complicates the outlook for chipsThe renewed threat to Middle East energy supplies is once again weighing on the AI trade, fueling concerns that inflation and borrowing costs will remain higher for longer.
While U.S. Treasury yields actually fell Thursday (largely due to the political unrest in Europe), they are well above where they were before the war began. The problem for the AI industry is clear: the massive data center build-out requires enormous amounts of money, and financing it is getting more and more expensive.
Image source: Getty Images.
As a proverbial seller of shovels in the AI gold rush, Intel needs customers to keep buying its shovels.
Meta's cash burn fuels AI funding concernsMeta Platforms didn't help calm the market's nerves with its Q3 earnings report. While it said it would likely spend even more than it had planned on capex by the end of its fiscal year, the company reported negative free cash flow (FCF) -- the money left after operating expenses and capital spending -- for the first time since 2012.
It also approved a non-voting stock class it can use to raise capital without diluting CEO Mark Zuckerberg's voting control. This was taken as a signal that financing costs are making additional borrowing unattractive and the company might turn to equity sales.
Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Intel and Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Since the start of the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, the story has centered around the graphics processing unit (GPU). Nvidia (NVDA -4.61%) built the world's fastest, and the tech giant's sales skyrocketed. But as AI transitions from answering questions to completing tasks on its own, another chip is stepping into the spotlight: the central processing unit (CPU).
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD -8.15%) and Intel (INTC -8.19%) have long led this market -- but now, Nvidia wants in. Let's consider why AI agents need CPUs and whether Nvidia can dominate in this market too.
Image source: Getty Images.
There's been a lot of talk about agentic AI in recent months -- but what exactly is this technology? It's software that works through various steps to reach a particular goal. Nvidia chief Jensen Huang, speaking during an earnings call earlier this year, described an agent as a "harness" built around an AI model, and the harness manages inputs and outputs, memory, tool use, and more. All of that runs on CPUs, while GPUs power the model's "thinking."
Huang predicts the world will eventually have billions of AI agents, and all of this should result in more use for GPUs and CPUs.
AMD chief executive officer Lisa Su also expects the CPU market to take off. She says CPUs used to be paired with GPUs at a ratio of one to four or one to eight, but that ratio is moving toward one to one, according to TrendForce. AMD now expects server CPU market growth of more than 35% annually, topping $120 billion by 2030, the market intelligence firm added.
Nvidia seizes a fresh opportunity
Nvidia, recognizing the opportunity, is now rolling out the Vera Rubin platform, featuring the company's first stand-alone CPU. Designed specifically for agentic AI, it aims for speed, delivering up to 1.5x faster performance per core compared to CPUs based on x86 architecture, Nvidia says.
NVDA Nvidia$211.74-$10.24 (-4.61%)
NASDAQ · As of 3:55 PM ET 10/22/26
The tech giant is on track to generate $20 billion in stand-alone CPU revenue this year and says the market opportunity equals $200 billion.
Here's how that compares to the company's current data center business. Nvidia's data center revenue reached $89 billion in the second quarter. Using that as a reference, $20 billion is only about three weeks of data center sales. But for a business Nvidia didn't previously address, that's a pretty impressive amount. And we're likely in the early days of this growth story. It's also important to note that this $20 billion is over just a few months, since rollout began recently.
The hurdles ahead
Though Nvidia is the GPU giant, this doesn't mean the company will unseat Intel and AMD in CPUs. And this is for two major reasons. First, AMD and Intel have decades of customer relationships and confirmed leadership in CPUs. Second, customers running software designed for x86 chips may not quickly switch over to Nvidia, which is based on a different architecture.
That said, Nvidia doesn't necessarily have to unseat the two market leaders to win. If the AI agent market is the next big growth area in AI, there should be plenty of room for all three companies to be successful.
What does this mean for Nvidia and its shareholders? The emergence of CPUs in the AI story offers the company a fresh opportunity for growth -- whether it becomes a leader or not. Nvidia has broadened its reach across the AI space in recent years, through partnerships and the development of new technologies, and that strengthens its position as an AI leader.
Investors should look to see how much CPU market share Nvidia may capture and how that translates into revenue in the coming quarters. Considering Nvidia's commitment to innovation over time, there's reason to be optimistic that CPUs may become a significant growth driver for the company in the years to come.
Intel Stock Slides Before Earnings. Supply Woes and Lower Price Targets Raise Pressure Summary
Wall Street will watch Intel’s revenue outlook, profit margins and foundry expansion for signs that its investments can translate into stronger performance
Intel INTC fell about 5% in Thursday morning trading as investors assessed whether the chipmaker can turn heavy manufacturing investment and tight supply into stronger results ahead of its Oct. 29 report.
Analysts forecast adjusted earnings of 39 cents per share on revenue of $16.45 billion, compared with 42 cents and $16.13 billion in the prior quarter.
Intel's third-quarter outlook calls for revenue of $15.8 billion to $16.8 billion, adjusted earnings of 38 cents per share and a 42% gross margin at the midpoint. Management has said demand exceeds available supply, with additional output expected late in the year, while shortages of memory and other components may limit PC shipments.
At Intel Foundry, 18A output ran 25% above target and external foundry revenue totaled $293 million. Its next 14A process is targeted for risk production in the second half of 2027.
Analyst targets have moved lower ahead of the release. Susquehanna cut its price target to $105 on Oct. 21, while TD Cowen lowered its target to $95 on Oct. 19.
Disclosures I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and have no plans to buy any new positions in the stocks mentioned within the next 72 hours.
Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC – Free Report) by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,609 shares of the chip maker’s stock after selling 6,780 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Intel were worth $8,489,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Primecap Management Co. CA purchased a new position in shares of Intel during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $10,507,291,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Intel in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,096,110,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Intel by 87.1% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 30,214,769 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $3,632,722,000 after purchasing an additional 14,063,302 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Intel during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,848,438,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Intel by 35.7% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 31,724,362 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $4,429,673,000 after purchasing an additional 8,342,514 shares in the last quarter. 64.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Insider Activity In other news, CEO Lip Bu Tan purchased 105,263 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $95.00 per share, for a total transaction of $9,999,985.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,314,669 shares in the company, valued at $124,893,555. This represents a 8.70% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets Several brokerages recently weighed in on INTC. Daiwa Securities Group cut Intel from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Intel from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Intel from $60.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Intel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Intel from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.73. View Our Latest Stock Report on INTC
Key Headlines Impacting Intel Here are the key news stories impacting Intel this week:
Positive Sentiment: AI demand and Musk’s Terafab comments supported the stock. Elon Musk described ambitious plans for Terafab, an AI-chip initiative involving SpaceX, Tesla and Intel. The comments, along with stronger updates from SpaceX and Super Micro Computer, reinforced expectations that AI infrastructure spending remains robust. Intel Stock Rises After Musk’s Cryptic Terafab Comments Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan upgraded Intel to Neutral from Underweight. The change reflects improved confidence in management execution and reduces a significant source of analyst pressure. Other commentary argues Intel’s foundry strategy, potential Tesla business and AI-focused products could improve its long-term investment narrative. Intel Stock Notches Up as JPMorgan Changes Its Mind Positive Sentiment: Recent operating results were better than expected. Intel’s latest reported quarter included adjusted earnings of $0.42 per share versus a $0.21 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 25.2% year over year to $16.13 billion. The results provide some evidence that the business transition is gaining traction. Neutral Sentiment: Analyst views remain mixed. Susquehanna lowered its price target from $115 to $105 while retaining a Neutral rating, and TD Cowen previously cut its target to $95 with a Hold rating. These targets imply limited-to-moderate upside and signal that execution risks remain material. Negative Sentiment: Valuation and technical signals remain concerns. Commentary notes that Intel still trades at a high earnings multiple despite a substantial retreat from its peak. A bearish Wyckoff pattern and continued weakness below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages suggest investors remain cautious. Negative Sentiment: Intel’s Ohio fab faces an unfavorable milestone. Delays and uncertainty surrounding the company’s Ohio manufacturing project raise concerns about capital spending, timing and the credibility of its domestic foundry ambitions. Intel Stock Gains Despite Grim Ohio Milestone Intel Trading Up 1.4% NASDAQ INTC opened at $92.96 on Thursday. Intel Corporation has a 12 month low of $32.89 and a 12 month high of $142.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $102.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $102.68. The stock has a market cap of $468.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -44.06, a P/E/G ratio of 9.74 and a beta of 2.22.
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The chip maker reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $16.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.43 billion. Intel had a positive return on equity of 2.62% and a negative net margin of 19.79%. Intel’s quarterly revenue was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.10) EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Intel Corporation will post 1.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Intel Company Profile (Free Report)
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) is a global semiconductor company that designs and manufactures computing and connectivity products. Its portfolio includes Intel Core processors for personal computers, Xeon processors for data centers and enterprise systems, and products for networking, edge computing, graphics, and artificial intelligence workloads.
Through Intel Foundry, the company also provides semiconductor manufacturing and technology-development services for external customers. Intel develops process technologies, advanced packaging, and other manufacturing capabilities intended to support its own products and third-party chip designs.
Founded in 1968 by Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore, Intel helped establish the modern microprocessor industry and has historically supplied processors for PCs, servers, and other computing systems.
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Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) shares are in the spotlight Thursday, with earnings on deck, third-quarter guidance and supply in focus, recent analyst activity and a technical setup showing a pullback all drawing attention.
Intel shares have shed nearly 15% in a month even as the company posted its strongest revenue growth in fifteen years, and three catalysts could determine whether that pullback becomes a buying opportunity or a warning sign.
The 24/7 Wall St. price target for Intel (NASDAQ:INTC | INTC Price Prediction) is $117.05 over the next 12 months. That means 26.38% upside from $92.62. Our model rates the stock a buy with 70% confidence, which we read as fairly high conviction.
Metric
Value
Current Price
$92.62
Price Target from 24/7 Wall St.
$117.05
Upside/Downside
26.38%
Recommendation
BUY
Confidence Level
70%
The upside depends on three catalysts: the Intel 18A ramp, accelerating Data Center and AI demand, and a foundry business that can win outside customers. If all three deliver, the recent pullback would sit within a real turnaround.
Intel Gave Back 14% in a Month Despite Record Growth
Intel shares have fallen 8.31% over the past week and 14.43% over the past month. Still, the stock is up 151.84% year to date and stands about 34.7% below its 52-week high of $142.35.
On Monday, JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), a longtime bear, upgraded Intel to neutral from underweight. Intel’s third-quarter report is expected after the close on October 29.
The last earnings report was strong. Q2 revenue came in at $16.13 billion (+25.4% YoY), ahead of estimates for $14.45 billion, and non-GAAP EPS of $0.42 exceeded the $0.22 consensus. CEO Lip-Bu Tan called it the “strongest revenue growth in more than fifteen years.”
Why Bulls See $129 Within Reach
Catalyst 1: 18A execution. Intel 18A output ran about 25% above target, and the cost of the main Panther Lake chip has dropped roughly 50% year to date.
Catalyst 2: AI data center demand. Data Center and AI revenue grew 59% year-over-year and generated $2.5 billion in operating profit. Chief Financial Officer David Zinsner expects the custom ASIC business to move from about a $2 billion run rate to $4 billion.
Catalyst 3: Foundry customers. The 14A PDK 0.9 was on track for October, and the EMIB-T packaging backlog keeps growing. The bull case puts the stock at $129.15. Wall Street’s consensus target is $117.37.
Foundry Losses Remain the Biggest Risk
Intel Foundry still lost $2.1 billion last quarter, and external foundry revenue was only $293 million. Capital spending for 2026 is set to top $20 billion, and management expects PC demand to go down by low double digits. Analyst ratings lean toward caution, with 32 Hold ratings.
Most of the GAAP loss of $2.16 per share came from a $12.53 billion non-cash charge linked to the CHIPS Act escrow, while operating cash flow reached $7 billion. The bear case puts the stock at $90.82.
Intel Trades at a Premium to AMD and NVIDIA
Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) competes with Intel directly in server and PC CPUs. It trades at 40x forward earnings, and revenue grew 50.11% last quarter. AMD is growing faster at a lower multiple, which makes Intel’s premium look like a payment for a recovery that hasn’t finished yet.
Intel considers NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) as both a partner and an investor. Shares trade at 25x forward earnings while revenue grew 105.85%.
Company
Forward P/E
PEG Ratio
Intel
63x
0.501
AMD
40x
0.626
NVIDIA
25x
0.479
On PEG, Intel falls in line with its peers, so the 24/7 Wall St. price target looks reasonable, though it assumes Intel keeps growing earnings quickly.
Execution Momentum Tips the Scale Toward Upside
I’m staying with a $117.05 24/7 Wall St. price target and a buy rating at 70% confidence. What tips the scale for me is Intel’s run of 4 consecutive EPS beats.
I’d grow more constructive if the Q3 report confirms the 18A yield increases and lands a named external foundry customer. I’d turn cautious if foundry losses widen or data center growth stalls. Overall, the setup favors more upside.
Year
Price Target from 24/7 Wall St.
2026
$97.45
2027
$121.65
2028
$139.48
2029
$151.25
2030
$170.46
These projections assume Intel keeps executing its current strategy. A decision on high-volume production for 14A, or a pause in that node, could drive the results well above or below these figures.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Intel INTC and AMD tumbled again on Thursday as surging oil prices and renewed concerns over the returns on artificial intelligence investments pushed investors toward a more cautious stance.
AMD declined 6.64% while Intel dropped 6.17% in morning trading, with other chip stocks also under pressure alongside the broader market.
The Nasdaq Composite fell 1.5% in early trading, while the S&P 500 declined 0.8% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost around 0.2%.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped approximately 4%, extending pressure on the sector as investors reassessed the scale of spending required to sustain the AI boom.
Technology shares came under particular pressure following Meta's latest earnings report.
Although the Facebook parent beat third-quarter revenue estimates, its substantial investment plans renewed concerns about whether growing AI expenditure will generate sufficient returns.
The broader weakness also pushed the CBOE Volatility Index higher after three consecutive sessions of declines, signalling increased uncertainty among investors.
Rising energy prices compounded the pressure on equities. Brent crude futures climbed to above $112 a barrel, approaching a five-month high, while West Texas Intermediate advanced around 2% to more than $99 a barrel.
US President Donald Trump also said Washington was not negotiating with Tehran, contributing to uncertainty over whether diplomatic efforts could ease tensions.
Fresh concerns about circular financing also weighed on semiconductor sentiment after Korean media reported that Tesla and Nvidia agreed to invest a combined 3.7 trillion won, or approximately $2.8 billion, in Samsung Electro-Mechanics.
The investment is intended to support dedicated production facilities for advanced flip-chip ball grid array (FC-BGA) semiconductor substrates, which are used in AI chips and data-center networks.
Circular financing refers to arrangements in which companies fund customers or business partners that subsequently use the money to purchase their products.
Investors worry that such arrangements could artificially stimulate demand or encourage excessive manufacturing capacity without establishing the underlying economics needed to sustain it.
The concern is particularly relevant to the AI industry, where companies are committing substantial sums to infrastructure, hardware and supply chains.
Investors are increasingly scrutinising whether spending reflects durable end demand or is being amplified by interconnected investments among industry participants.
Lam Research added another complication for chip investors after reporting record quarterly revenue of $8.22 billion and adjusted earnings of $2.20 per share, both above expectations.
Despite the strong results, the semiconductor equipment maker indicated that supply limitations were constraining its ability to meet demand.
CFO Doug Bettinger said the company's quarterly revenue guidance of $8.6 billion "would have been a bit higher if not for some near-term supply chain constraints."
The warning highlights a continuing challenge for the semiconductor industry: demand for chips and related equipment remains elevated, but supply-chain limitations are restricting how quickly manufacturers can respond.
Intel (INTC - Free Report) is expected to deliver a year-over-year increase in earnings on higher revenues when it reports results for the quarter ended September 2026. This widely-known consensus outlook gives a good sense of the company's earnings picture, but how the actual results compare to these estimates is a powerful factor that could impact its near-term stock price.
The earnings report, which is expected to be released on October 29, might help the stock move higher if these key numbers are better than expectations. On the other hand, if they miss, the stock may move lower.
While management's discussion of business conditions on the earnings call will mostly determine the sustainability of the immediate price change and future earnings expectations, it's worth having a handicapping insight into the odds of a positive EPS surprise.
Zacks Consensus EstimateThis world's largest chipmaker is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.39 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +69.6%.
Revenues are expected to be $16.44 billion, up 20.4% from the year-ago quarter.
Estimate Revisions TrendThe consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 1.42% higher over the last 30 days to the current level. This is essentially a reflection of how the covering analysts have collectively reassessed their initial estimates over this period.
Investors should keep in mind that the direction of estimate revisions by each of the covering analysts may not always get reflected in the aggregate change.
Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Earnings WhisperEstimate revisions ahead of a company's earnings release offer clues to the business conditions for the period whose results are coming out. This insight is at the core of our proprietary surprise prediction model -- the Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction).
The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter; the Most Accurate Estimate is a more recent version of the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information, which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier.
Thus, a positive or negative Earnings ESP reading theoretically indicates the likely deviation of the actual earnings from the consensus estimate. However, the model's predictive power is significant for positive ESP readings only.
A positive Earnings ESP is a strong predictor of an earnings beat, particularly when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold). Our research shows that stocks with this combination produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time, and a solid Zacks Rank actually increases the predictive power of Earnings ESP.
Please note that a negative Earnings ESP reading is not indicative of an earnings miss. Our research shows that it is difficult to predict an earnings beat with any degree of confidence for stocks with negative Earnings ESP readings and/or Zacks Rank of 4 (Sell) or 5 (Strong Sell).
How Have the Numbers Shaped Up for Intel?For Intel, the Most Accurate Estimate is higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate, suggesting that analysts have recently become bullish on the company's earnings prospects. This has resulted in an Earnings ESP of +2.22%.
On the other hand, the stock currently carries a Zacks Rank of #2.
So, this combination indicates that Intel will most likely beat the consensus EPS estimate.
Does Earnings Surprise History Hold Any Clue?Analysts often consider to what extent a company has been able to match consensus estimates in the past while calculating their estimates for its future earnings. So, it's worth taking a look at the surprise history for gauging its influence on the upcoming number.
For the last reported quarter, it was expected that Intel would post earnings of $0.21 per share when it actually produced earnings of $0.42, delivering a surprise of +100.00%.
Over the last four quarters, the company has beaten consensus EPS estimates four times.
Bottom LineAn earnings beat or miss may not be the sole basis for a stock moving higher or lower. Many stocks end up losing ground despite an earnings beat due to other factors that disappoint investors. Similarly, unforeseen catalysts help a number of stocks gain despite an earnings miss.
That said, betting on stocks that are expected to beat earnings expectations does increase the odds of success. This is why it's worth checking a company's Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank ahead of its quarterly release. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported.
Intel appears a compelling earnings-beat candidate. However, investors should pay attention to other factors too for betting on this stock or staying away from it ahead of its earnings release.
Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.
Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC – Free Report) by 56.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 42,454 shares of the chip maker’s stock after buying an additional 15,253 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Intel were worth $5,104,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Intel by 1.2% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 216,849,675 shares of the chip maker’s stock worth $30,278,720,000 after acquiring an additional 2,528,657 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new stake in shares of Intel during the second quarter valued at approximately $10,507,291,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Intel by 35.7% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 31,724,362 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $4,429,673,000 after purchasing an additional 8,342,514 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Intel in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,096,110,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Intel by 87.1% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 30,214,769 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $3,632,722,000 after purchasing an additional 14,063,302 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.53% of the company’s stock.
Intel Price Performance NASDAQ INTC opened at $92.96 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $102.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $102.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $468.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -44.06, a P/E/G ratio of 9.74 and a beta of 2.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Intel Corporation has a 12-month low of $32.89 and a 12-month high of $142.35.
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The chip maker reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $16.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.43 billion. Intel had a positive return on equity of 2.62% and a negative net margin of 19.79%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.10) EPS. Analysts forecast that Intel Corporation will post 1.05 EPS for the current fiscal year. Analysts Set New Price Targets INTC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays raised Intel from a “hold” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. New Street Research lifted their target price on Intel from $100.00 to $122.00 in a research report on Friday, June 26th. KeyCorp set a $125.00 target price on Intel in a report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research cut Intel from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Intel from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Intel presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.73.
Check Out Our Latest Report on Intel
Trending Headlines about Intel Here are the key news stories impacting Intel this week:
Positive Sentiment: AI demand and Musk’s Terafab comments supported the stock. Elon Musk described ambitious plans for Terafab, an AI-chip initiative involving SpaceX, Tesla and Intel. The comments, along with stronger updates from SpaceX and Super Micro Computer, reinforced expectations that AI infrastructure spending remains robust. Intel Stock Rises After Musk’s Cryptic Terafab Comments Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan upgraded Intel to Neutral from Underweight. The change reflects improved confidence in management execution and reduces a significant source of analyst pressure. Other commentary argues Intel’s foundry strategy, potential Tesla business and AI-focused products could improve its long-term investment narrative. Intel Stock Notches Up as JPMorgan Changes Its Mind Positive Sentiment: Recent operating results were better than expected. Intel’s latest reported quarter included adjusted earnings of $0.42 per share versus a $0.21 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 25.2% year over year to $16.13 billion. The results provide some evidence that the business transition is gaining traction. Neutral Sentiment: Analyst views remain mixed. Susquehanna lowered its price target from $115 to $105 while retaining a Neutral rating, and TD Cowen previously cut its target to $95 with a Hold rating. These targets imply limited-to-moderate upside and signal that execution risks remain material. Negative Sentiment: Valuation and technical signals remain concerns. Commentary notes that Intel still trades at a high earnings multiple despite a substantial retreat from its peak. A bearish Wyckoff pattern and continued weakness below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages suggest investors remain cautious. Negative Sentiment: Intel’s Ohio fab faces an unfavorable milestone. Delays and uncertainty surrounding the company’s Ohio manufacturing project raise concerns about capital spending, timing and the credibility of its domestic foundry ambitions. Intel Stock Gains Despite Grim Ohio Milestone Insiders Place Their Bets In other Intel news, CEO Lip Bu Tan bought 105,263 shares of Intel stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $95.00 per share, with a total value of $9,999,985.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,314,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $124,893,555. This represents a 8.70% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Intel Company Profile (Free Report)
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) is a global semiconductor company that designs and manufactures computing and connectivity products. Its portfolio includes Intel Core processors for personal computers, Xeon processors for data centers and enterprise systems, and products for networking, edge computing, graphics, and artificial intelligence workloads.
Through Intel Foundry, the company also provides semiconductor manufacturing and technology-development services for external customers. Intel develops process technologies, advanced packaging, and other manufacturing capabilities intended to support its own products and third-party chip designs.
Founded in 1968 by Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore, Intel helped establish the modern microprocessor industry and has historically supplied processors for PCs, servers, and other computing systems.
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Nvidia (NVDA +2.54%) is arguably the most critical company in the artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem, given the central role its chips and software play in powering AI workloads.
That deep expertise means Nvidia is well-suited to identifying other potential winners in the AI infrastructure market, so investors should pay attention to where the company keeps its money. Nvidia's capital allocation strategy can reveal opportunities that extend beyond its core chip business.
As of the second quarter, Nvidia had 80% of its investment portfolio concentrated in two AI stocks: 33% in Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX +7.80%) and 47% in Intel (INTC +1.39%). Here's what investors should know.
Image source: Getty Images.
Space Exploration Technologies: 33% of Nvidia's portfolioSpaceX is a vertically integrated business whose operations span space, connectivity, and artificial intelligence. The company has an important economic moat in reusable rockets, which have made it much less expensive to launch payloads into orbit. That edge helped SpaceX build Starlink, the world's largest satellite internet service.
CEO Elon Musk wants to combine those proficiencies to build orbital (space-based) data centers, which could theoretically solve the power and cooling challenges associated with terrestrial data centers. In its SEC Form S-1, SpaceX states: "We believe we are the only company with a commercially viable path to building orbital AI compute at scale."
SpaceX reported encouraging third-quarter financial results. Revenue increased 161% to $14.6 billion, up from 92% revenue growth in the second quarter. The driving force behind the acceleration was momentum in the AI business, with revenue increasing by more than 800%. Investors have reason to think the company can maintain that momentum.
Earlier this year, SpaceX said it would rent data center capacity to Anthropic, Alphabet's Google, and Reflection AI in deals collectively worth $28 billion per year. More recently, the company said it had a fourth customer that will pay $13 billion per year, bringing the total annual commitments to $41 billion. For context, SpaceX reported about $3 billion in AI revenue in 2025.
However, SpaceX is a risky investment because the stock trades at 68 times sales, a rich valuation even for a company whose revenue is projected to increase at 150% annually through 2028. I think investors who are confident in the company's growth prospects can buy a few shares today, but I would keep the position small.
Intel: 47% of Nvidia's portfolioIntel is the leader in central processing units (CPUs), with about 59% of the personal computer market and 54% of the data center server market as of the second quarter. The company benefits from vertical integration by designing and manufacturing its own chips, and it wants to expand its foundry operations by making chips for other companies.
Despite its market leadership, Intel has lost substantial market share over the last decade in PCs and servers due to execution missteps and missed opportunities. In particular, its slow transition to 10-nanometer technology allowed Advanced Micro Devices to bring more powerful, more power-efficient processors to market faster by working with Taiwan Semiconductor.
Intel is showing signs of a comeback under CEO Lip-Bu Tan. Revenue rose 25% to $16.1 billion in the second quarter, the fastest growth in more than 15 years. That was driven by strong momentum in the data center and foundry business segments. Intel also reported non-GAAP earnings of $0.42 per diluted share, up from a loss of $0.10 per diluted share in the same quarter last year.
However, Intel's impressive financial results say more about the strong demand for CPUs than about the company itself. Despite reporting its best revenue growth in years, Intel still ceded CPU market share to AMD and Arm in PCs and servers in the second quarter. Also, Intel's growth prospects in the foundry space remain questionable, as TSMC dominates the market.
Intel currently trades at 87 times adjusted earnings. That seemingly rich figure looks a little more palatable in context. Wall Street expects adjusted earnings to grow at 56% annually through 2027. Investors can buy a small position in Intel today, provided they understand the stock's high valuation could lead to substantial volatility in the future.
Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.
Intel Stock Faces Fresh Wall Street Warning. Susquehanna Cuts Its Price Target
Summary
Susquehanna lowers its Intel price target to $105 ahead of earnings, adding to Wall Street’s divided outlook for the chipmaker
Intel INTC is facing another round of cautious analyst scrutiny ahead of its quarterly results, as Susquehanna lowered its price target while maintaining a Neutral rating.
Susquehanna cut its target to $105 from $115 in a review of semiconductor stocks before the earnings season. The firm sees modest upside for third-quarter results and fourth-quarter guidance, citing AI demand and a wider semiconductor recovery.
The revision follows moves by other brokerages. TD Cowen lowered its target to $95 from $115 on Oct. 19 and kept a Hold rating. JPMorgan, meanwhile, raised its rating to Neutral from Underweight on Oct. 19, setting an $85 target.
Intel is scheduled to report third-quarter results on Oct. 29. The company's shares recently traded around $92, well below a late-September high of $127.44, as investors weigh its manufacturing expansion against questions over near-term profitability.
The differing calls highlight uncertainty about how quickly Intel can translate demand for AI-related chips and investment in its manufacturing operations into stronger earnings. Susquehanna's new $105 target remains above the recent share price, while JPMorgan's target sits below it.
Disclosures
I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and have no plans to buy any new positions in the stocks mentioned within the next 72 hours.
One quote from Elon Musk sent chip stocks surging in premarket trading, but whether that momentum signals a real turning point or just a brief relief rally is what the rest of October will decide.
Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX | SPCX Price Prediction), used the company’s third-quarter earnings call last night to describe how fast SpaceX is adding AI computing capacity.
Chip stocks bounced in premarket trading. NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) rose 1.82% to $220.42. Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) gained 1.69% to $93.24, and SanDisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) added 3.22% to $1,409.28. SpaceX rose 8.22%. Strong gains didn’t hold past the open, but as of 11 a.m. ET, all three stocks were still in the green.
The quote from Musk comes at an important time as AI infrastructure stocks have been hit hard in October. Over the past month, SanDisk is down 21.35% and Intel is down 14.14%. NVIDIA fell only 0.83%.
What SpaceX Reported Versus What Musk Expects Reported: Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnson said SpaceX ended Q3 with 1.7 gigawatts of rated compute. Johnson put Q3 capital expenditures (spending on equipment and buildings) at $19.6 billion and guided Q4 to between $35 billion and $40 billion. Management said new compute pays for itself in less than a year at current pricing. A gigawatt of compute measures how much electricity a fleet of AI chips draws. One gigawatt is roughly what a large power plant produces.
Expected: Elon Musk said SpaceX is on track to bring roughly 200,000 NVIDIA Blackwell Ultra chips online every month for the rest of 2026, keep that pace in 2027, and shift mostly to Vera Rubin next year. Elon Musk said SpaceX should have 2.5 to 3 gigawatts online by year-end. He is fairly confident of adding 10 gigawatts in 2027 and said “I would be surprised if we brought on less than 13 gigawatts of compute by the end of next year.” Elon Musk is aiming for 20 gigawatts of new power and cooling, plus a 440,000-chip Vera Rubin training cluster by the end of Q2. He also said SpaceX could rent out its compute “several times over” if it said yes to every request. SpaceX disclosed no purchase orders with any chipmaker.
How Much Each Stock Actually Gains NVIDIA: This is direct demand evidence. NVIDIA’s own release lists “SpaceXAI to deploy NVIDIA Vera CPUs for agentic AI applications” as a growth initiative. Even so, its Q3 guide of $108B ±2% already assumes huge demand, so the comments support that number more than they raise it.
Intel: The link is indirect. Intel joined Terafab as a strategic partner alongside SpaceX, xAI, and Tesla, and Barron’s tied Intel’s gain to Musk’s Terafab comments.
SanDisk: Every AI server rack needs storage, and Datacenter revenue reached $2.977B last quarter.
Why One Morning Proves Little Musk himself named power, cooling and electrical equipment as the limiting factors, the same constraint that keeps pulling attention toward the suppliers behind the data centers (we rounded up seven of them, from power to cooling, in a free AI infrastructure report). He also leases compute at “effectively the spot market rate” instead of signing long-term deals, which means that demand is not locked in.
CNBC reported that listed AI cloud providers rose after his comments. Truist called the quarter “the first data point during the earnings season to support the bull case for AI cloud providers”. On the same day, Ken Griffin said AI is “almost certainly” in a bubble.
Did Musk Just End the AI Sell-Off? Not yet. Musk gave the strongest demand signal so far in this earnings season, but these remain unsigned management targets. Musk directly mentioned NVIDIA, so whether Intel and SanDisk rise today are the real test. If both close October 21 above their prior closes of $91.69 and $1,365.38, buyers are treating the comments as real. Negative sentiment has been driving the AI infrastructure trade across October; earnings season could be the catalyst stocks in the space need.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Anthropic just committed a staggering sum to computing power before its IPO, and its appetite keeps growing even as losses mount. One chipmaker stands out as the biggest beneficiary, and its stock is already moving.
Ahead of its IPO, Anthropic has committed more than $600 billion to computing. That is more than the entire market value of Intel (NASDAQ:INTC | INTC Price Prediction), which stands at $484.7 billion. “Compute” means the chips, servers and data centers that train and run AI models. The filing is an S-1, the disclosure document a company files with regulators before it goes public. The Wall Street Journal first reported details from it on October 20, 2026. The filing itself has not been made public and reports are based on leaks.
Geiger Capital summed up the reaction on X:
“This is insane… Anthropic has $600B+ in future compute contracts, and they’re still saying they need more compute capacity than the market can provide.” (Geiger Capital on X)
Three totals are now going around. In late September, Reuters reported that a filing showed a $518 billion AI expansion, mostly tied to deals that cannot be canceled. Crypto Briefing’s latest report puts commitments above $600 billion. The Wall Street Journal, in a report cited by Bloomberg, said Anthropic may put $750 billion toward extra computing capacity over the next several years.
The first two figures describe signed commitments at different points in time. The third describes planned spending. Each measures something different, so they should be read separately and never added together.
What It Means for AMD The business behind those contracts is growing fast. Crypto Briefing reported that Anthropic brought in $16.3 billion of revenue in the first half of 2026, and InvestingLive reported that revenue rose nearly 15-fold. Crypto Briefing also reported a first-half net loss of $80.7 billion, mostly from accounting charges. A loss driven by accounting charges is a different measure from cash burned: it brings down reported profit without draining the bank account dollar for dollar. Anthropic has signed up for computing bills far larger than its current revenue, counting on that revenue to keep climbing.
Compute providers and cloud partners sit on the other side of these commitments. CoreWeave (NASDAQ:CRWV) disclosed earlier this year that it signed a multi-year agreement with Anthropic. Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), through Google, are longtime partners. Among chipmakers, the most material disclosed link goes to AMD (NASDAQ:AMD).
On its August 4, 2026 call, AMD said Anthropic will deploy up to 2 gigawatts of MI450 Series GPUs in Helios racks, starting with the first gigawatt in the first half of 2027. CEO Lisa Su named Anthropic, OpenAI and Meta as AMD’s “strategic anchor customers.” When asked about revenue per gigawatt, she said: “I think we’ve said double-digit billions. We’re still in that range.”
That demand is already showing up in AMD’s results. Second-quarter revenue reached $11.54 billion, up 50.1% year over year and ahead of the $11.31 billion consensus. Non-GAAP EPS of $1.66 beat expectations of $1.61. Data Center revenue rose 107% to $6.72 billion, now 58% of the total, and the unit earned $2.10 billion in operating income after a $155 million loss a year earlier.
AMD Shares Rebound After an AI-Trade Pullback Shares rose roughly 5% after the August report. More recently they fell 6.32% between October 14 and October 20, from $570.82 to $534.74, while Barron’s reported cracks emerging in the AI trade. On the morning after the Anthropic reports, the stock was up 3.06% at $551.12, a 157.34% gain for the year so far.
Bull Case and the Risks That Could Derail It The bull case rests on demand exceeding supply. Anthropic says it needs more compute than the market can provide, and AMD says customer pull for Helios is “very strong and tracking ahead of our initial forecast.” AMD expects Data Center revenue to more than double in 2027. It also has three key customers, so its growth does not hang on a single buyer. The AI infrastructure trade goes well beyond the GPU makers themselves (we featured seven of the suppliers powering, cooling, and networking these data centers in a free report).
The risk is concentrated in Anthropic’s balance sheet. Its commitments are hard to cancel, it is reporting losses, and it depends on an IPO and open capital markets. Ken Griffin said on October 20 that corporate America is “looking at their bills from Anthropic and OpenAI” to make sure the spending delivers productivity. If those bills stop paying off, deployments could slip. With AMD trading at a P/E of 201, much of that growth is already built into the price.
What to Watch Before Anthropic’s S-1 Goes Public The next checkpoint is AMD’s third-quarter guidance of about $13 billion in revenue, plus or minus $300 million. Once Anthropic’s S-1 becomes public, look at three things: how large and how cancelable the commitments are, whether revenue keeps growing, and how much cash the business actually burns. A customer that has committed more than Intel’s entire market value to computing and still says it needs more gives AMD a source of demand that runs well into 2027.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Buy 1–3 month INTC put options (or put spreads) into next week’s earnings. The setup is “distribution/markdown” plus a near-term catalyst. If the market treats earnings as “good but not enough” (or guides conservatively), puts monetize the likely volatility and downside continuation toward $80 then $65.
Key Risk: Intel delivers a clear upside beat with aggressive guidance that triggers a sustained rally above $80.
INTC short to $80/$65
Sell Intel (INTC). The article flags a Wyckoff shift from distribution to markdown, with a bearish breakout risk toward the 50% Fib near $80, and if it breaks, a move toward the 61.8% Fib around $65. Even with improving revenue, the tape setup points to more downside before earnings can stabilize sentiment.
Key Risk: Intel’s earnings surprise is strong enough to flip the chart back to accumulation (stock reclaims $80 and holds).
Intel stock has pulled back into a bear market as investors dump high-flying artificial intelligence (AI) companies. The shares have slumped 34% from their all-time high, with the company’s market capitalization falling from $707 billion to $493 billion. According to the Wyckoff Method, the stock could drop further.
One way of understanding the recent Intel price action is known as the Wyckoff Theory. This theory suggests that assets go through four different stages: accumulation, markup, distribution, and markdown.
In Intel’s case, the chart below shows that the stock remained in the accumulation phase for years. In this period, it formed a shallow cup-and-handle pattern between December 2023 and January this year. A C&H pattern normally leads to more upside over time.
The stock then surged and moved to the markup phase. This price action coincided with the rescue by the US government and Nvidia, which has now become its biggest shareholder. It also coincided with the surge in companies in the artificial intelligence boom.
Recently, however, there are signs that the stock has moved to the distribution phase. This distribution is then followed by the markdown stage, which is characterized by panic selling among investors.
Therefore, the stock will likely have a bearish breakout, potentially to the 50% Fibonacci Retracement level of $80. A drop below that level will point to more downside towards the 61.8% retracement at $65.
INTC chart | Source: TradingView
INTC stock has dropped in the past few months as investors have remained concerned about the artificial intelligence bubble. Citadel’s Ken Griffin and Ray Dalio have all warned that the AI bubble may burst as soon as this year as interest rates remain at an elevated level.
The next important catalyst for the INTC stock will be next week’s earnings report, which is expected to show that its revenue growth continued. In its last report, Intel said that demand for its products was so strong that it was forced to sell lower-level ones. This growth will likely continue as the AI agent industry gains momentum.
The results showed that its revenue jumped by 25% in the second quarter to $16.1 billion, a strong comeback for a company that was on the verge of collapsing. Its client computing and physical AI group’s revenue jumped by 13% to $8.9 billion, while its data center and AI business made $6.3 billion, a 59% annual growth.
Analysts expect the upcoming results to show that Intel’s revenue jumped by 20% to $16.47 billion. The most optimistic analyst expects the real figure to be $17 billion, which is possible based on the recent earnings by companies like Micron and Samsung.
Its profits are also expected to continue rising. Analysts see the EPS rising to $0.40, up sharply from $0.23 in the same period last year. For the year, the EPS is expected to come in at $1.53, up sharply from the 42 cents it made last year.
The main risk that Intel faces is a broader slowdown in the AI industry, which some analysts believe is a possibility. It is also facing substantial competition risk from Nvidia, which launched its CPU recently.
Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.
Genoa Capital Gestora de Recursos Ltda. purchased a new position in Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) during the undefined quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 21,947 shares of the chip maker's stock, valued at approximately $2,639,000. Intel comprises 0.6% of
Petredis Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC – Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 69,594 shares of the chip maker’s stock, valued at approximately $8,367,000.
A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of Intel during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Montgomery Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Intel during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Glynn Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Intel during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Intel during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Intel by 3,185.7% in the second quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 230 shares of the chip maker’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.53% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes A number of brokerages recently commented on INTC. Northland Securities raised Intel from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Barclays upgraded Intel from a “hold” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Intel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. KeyCorp set a $125.00 price objective on Intel in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Intel from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Intel presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.98.
View Our Latest Research Report on INTC Intel News Roundup Here are the key news stories impacting Intel this week:
Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan removed its bearish rating: JPMorgan upgraded Intel from Underweight to Neutral, saying confidence is building in management execution, manufacturing improvements and chip design. The change helped drive the prior session’s rebound after Intel’s steep decline. Intel Stock Notches Up as JPMorgan Changes Its Mind Positive Sentiment: Foundry and AI opportunities provide longer-term support: Intel’s agreement to manufacture Tesla chips using its planned 14A process, along with new products aimed at AI inference and agentic workloads, gives investors more concrete evidence that its costly foundry strategy could attract meaningful customers and demand. Did Foundry Win Just Shift Intel Investment Narrative? Neutral Sentiment: Analyst views remain divided: JPMorgan’s upgrade signals a more balanced risk/reward outlook, but its reported $85 target remains below recent trading levels. Investors are likely to focus on Intel’s upcoming quarterly results for evidence that the turnaround is translating into sustainable revenue and profitability. Negative Sentiment: TD Cowen cut its target: TD Cowen lowered Intel’s price target from $115 to $95 and maintained a Hold rating, reflecting continued execution risks and limited near-term upside in its view. Intel Price Target Cut Negative Sentiment: Semiconductor sentiment has deteriorated: Intel and other chip stocks fell as investors questioned whether the rapid pace of AI infrastructure spending can continue and whether data-center returns will justify elevated capital expenditures. This sector-wide selling is pressuring Intel despite its company-specific catalysts. Why AI Chip Stocks Are Falling Negative Sentiment: Competitive risks remain: Chinese memory maker CXMT’s progress toward server memory could intensify competition in areas connected to Intel’s data-center ecosystem, while Intel still faces questions about market share, manufacturing execution and the profitability of its foundry investments. Intel Versus Micron and CXMT Competition Intel Price Performance INTC opened at $91.69 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $102.82 and a 200-day moving average of $102.38. The company has a market capitalization of $462.48 billion, a P/E ratio of -43.45, a PEG ratio of 9.77 and a beta of 2.22. Intel Corporation has a 1-year low of $32.89 and a 1-year high of $142.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.60.
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The chip maker reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.21. Intel had a negative net margin of 19.79% and a positive return on equity of 2.62%. The business had revenue of $16.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.10) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. Intel has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.380-0.380 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Intel Corporation will post 1.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Insiders Place Their Bets In other news, CEO Lip Bu Tan acquired 105,263 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $95.00 per share, with a total value of $9,999,985.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,314,669 shares in the company, valued at $124,893,555. This represents a 8.70% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.05% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
About Intel (Free Report)
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) is a global semiconductor company that designs and manufactures computing and connectivity products. Its portfolio includes Intel Core processors for personal computers, Xeon processors for data centers and enterprise systems, and products for networking, edge computing, graphics, and artificial intelligence workloads.
Through Intel Foundry, the company also provides semiconductor manufacturing and technology-development services for external customers. Intel develops process technologies, advanced packaging, and other manufacturing capabilities intended to support its own products and third-party chip designs.
Founded in 1968 by Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore, Intel helped establish the modern microprocessor industry and has historically supplied processors for PCs, servers, and other computing systems.
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Analysts with JPMorgan Chase upgraded Intel (INTC -0.70%) to neutral from underweight on Monday, Oct. 19, citing growing agentic artificial intelligence (AI) workloads and tight supplies of advanced chips. The chipmaker's stock gained around 2% that day, ending at $92.03.
Even after that bounce, shares are around 35% under their record close of $140.94 on June 22. And most of the drop has happened lately. The stock still closed above $127 as late as Sept. 24.
Sure, an upgrade to neutral isn't a call to buy, and I wouldn't buy or sell a stock based on an analyst's rating anyway. What matters more is how much investors now pay for what Intel earns. And by that measure, the stock has gotten far cheaper than its 35% drop suggests.
Image source: Intel.
Intel's earnings have nearly doubledWhen Intel set its record in June, its four most recently reported quarters came to non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings per share of just $0.57. That figure included a loss of $0.10 a share in the second quarter of 2025.
At $140.94, then, investors were paying almost 250 times Intel's adjusted earnings for the previous four quarters.
Intel's second-quarter results, released in July, changed that. Revenue rose 25% year over year to $16.1 billion, accelerating sharply from 7% growth in the first quarter and a 4% fall in the fourth quarter of 2025. And adjusted earnings per share climbed to $0.42, up from $0.15 in the fourth quarter of 2025 and $0.29 in the first quarter of 2026.
Combined, the past four reported quarters now total $1.09 a share in adjusted earnings -- nearly double the June number.
At around $92 as I write, Intel trades at about 84 times these earnings. It's still a steep price-to-earnings ratio. But it's around a third of where the ratio was at the record, even though the share price fell only about 35%. In other words, rising profits did more to cut the stock's price-to-earnings ratio than the falling share price did.
Intel's GAAP results look much worse. On that basis, the company lost $2.16 a share for the second quarter. But a non-cash charge of $2.45 a share more than accounted for the loss. The charge is linked to Intel stock held in escrow for the U.S. government under its CHIPS Act deal, so I'm leaning on the adjusted numbers here.
A step backThe next step is a smaller one, though. For the third quarter, management's guidance calls for $0.38 a share in adjusted earnings. This would be up 65% from $0.23 for the third quarter of 2025, but down from the second quarter's $0.42.
Revenue growth may slow, too. The midpoint of Intel's guidance range from $15.8 billion to $16.8 billion implies growth of around 19% year over year, after 25% for the second quarter.
If Intel earned $0.38 a share every quarter over a year, it'd make around $1.52. At around $92 a share, the stock would cost about 60 times that annual pace of earnings.
Demand for AI computing doesn't look like the issue.
"AI-driven compute continues to strengthen, and to support expected growth this year and next across products and foundry, we are meaningfully increasing our investments in equipment, clean room space, and substrates," CFO Dave Zinsner said in Intel's second-quarter earnings release.
Turning that demand into steadily rising earnings per share is what Intel still needs to prove. And the third-quarter guidance suggests the climb might not continue every quarter.
INTC Intel$91.05-$0.64 (-0.70%)
NASDAQ · As of 9:54 AM ET 10/21/26
Is the drop big enough?Based on expected earnings for 2027, Intel trades at around 44 times earnings. That price-to-earnings ratio arguably assumes Intel's profits can keep climbing well past the third quarter's pace. Intel posts third-quarter results on Thursday, Oct. 29, which might show whether the $0.38 forecast was cautious or the start of a flatter stretch.
Does the 35% drop make Intel stock a buy? I don't think so yet. The drop, plus a far stronger second quarter, has moved the price a lot closer to what Intel earns. But at around 84 times adjusted earnings in the past four quarters, the stock still prices in lots of growth that hasn't come yet.
I'd want to see adjusted earnings per share climb back above the second quarter's $0.42 before considering the stock at this price.
Should you stick with a proven cash-flow machine or bet on a classic tech turnaround story? Today we're comparing Apple (AAPL +0.28%) and Intel (INTC -0.70%) to determine which is the better buy.
Apple dominates the high-end consumer market with its ecosystem of devices, while Intel is reinventing itself through its foundry operations. These tech giants represent two distinct strategies for growth, making a side-by-side comparison essential for investors navigating the current market.
The case for AppleApple designs and manufactures mobile communication devices and personal computers for a global audience, distributing its products to consumers and enterprise clients across more than 200 countries. It uses a mix of direct sales through 201 retail stores and indirect channels like cellular network carriers and third-party resellers. The company also licenses its platforms to search service providers and relies on a global network of third-party software developers for its app ecosystem.
In fiscal 2025, revenue reached nearly $416.2 billion, reflecting a growth rate of approximately 6.4% over the prior year. This increase supported net income of close to $112 billion, up from $93.7 billion in 2024. Net margin was roughly 26.9%, showing the company's ability to maintain high profitability despite shifting consumer spending patterns.
As of Apple's September 2025 balance sheet, the debt-to-equity ratio is nearly 1.5. This metric compares total debt to shareholders' equity, indicating how much leverage the business uses to fund its operations. The current ratio is roughly 0.9, while free cash flow reached close to $98.8 billion for the period, which supports research and development and shareholder returns.
The case for IntelIntel designs and manufactures a wide range of processors and accelerators for the data center and edge computing markets. Its Intel Foundry business is a major strategic focus, offering manufacturing and packaging services to other semiconductor stocks. The company employs over 108,000 people to support its mission of providing domestic manufacturing capacity for the global technology industry.
In fiscal 2025, revenue reached roughly $52.9 billion, a minor decline of about 0.5%. The company recorded a net loss of nearly $267 million, a substantial improvement over the $18.8 billion net loss reported in the prior year. This trend suggests the business is beginning to stabilize even as it continues its expensive transition toward a new manufacturing model.
As of its December 2025 balance sheet, the debt-to-equity ratio is approximately 0.4, while the current ratio is roughly 2.0, indicating a strong ability to cover short-term liabilities. Free cash flow was negative at approximately $4.9 billion for the year. Note that stock-based compensation accounted for 25.1% of operating cash flow, inflating reported cash generation, since SBC is a non-cash expense added back in the cash flow statement.
AAPL
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Risk profile comparisonApple faces intense competition in the smartphone and wearables markets from rivals with significant global resources. Regulatory investigations into its App Store practices and search engine licensing continue to pose legal threats in multiple jurisdictions. Additionally, the company recently settled a $250 million lawsuit regarding delays in artificial intelligence features for its hardware, while supply chain risks persist due to a heavy reliance on third-party partners located primarily in Asia.
Intel faces significant execution risks as it pivots toward a foundry-first business model. The company must successfully develop new manufacturing nodes to compete with established global foundries while attracting major clients like Microsoft (MSFT -0.28%). Furthermore, it faces stiff competition in the data center market, where rival chip designs continue to challenge its traditional dominance, and any delays in its product road map could lead to further market share losses.
Valuation comparisonApple trades at a lower forward P/E than Intel, though it carries a higher P/S ratio based on sales over the past 12 months.
MetricAppleIntelForward P/E35.759.2P/S ratio10.78.5Valuation metrics include sourcing from Financial Modeling Prep (FMP) and may differ from other data providers.
I'm a longtime Apple shareholder, having first bought the stock in 2012. I obviously think it's a good business, given that I still own it. Plus, Apple has crushed Intel over the past 10 years:
AAPL data by YCharts
Apple turned out to be a good buy for me in 2012, but is it still a good buy today? It's hard to know how much more growth to expect out of a company that's already valued in the trillions. That said, Intel doesn't look attractive here. It's in the middle of reinventing its business, and that is an expensive, time-consuming endeavor filled with uncertainty. Intel even suspended its dividend to further its goals. (Admittedly, Apple's dividend is tiny.)
I don't think a company as large as Intel will disappear overnight, but its pivot to establishing a foundry business is fraught with risk. I don't expect Apple to post mind-blowing growth from here, but I also feel just fine continuing to own shares. Apple looks like the safer bet here.
Nvidia, AMD and Intel stocks rose in Wednesday's US premarket trading after stronger-than-expected updates from Super Micro Computer and SpaceX offered investors evidence that spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure remains robust.
In an early snapshot, Nvidia gained more than 1.5%, while AMD and Intel also rose.
Later indications put Intel's rise above 3%, underscoring how quickly prices were moving after last week's semiconductor rout.
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Nvidia is rallying as AI spending signals keep server demand strong.
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Super Micro Computer raised its preliminary fiscal first-quarter revenue guidance to $18.5 billion–$19.5 billion from $14.5 billion–$15.5 billion. The $19 billion midpoint represents a $4 billion, or 26.7%, upgrade.
Expected gross margins also increased to 12%–12.5%, compared with the earlier 10.4%–10.8% range. The server manufacturer credited stronger demand for AI platforms, although the figures remain unaudited.
SpaceX added to the optimism by reporting third-quarter revenue of about $14.6 billion, ahead of Wall Street's roughly $12.9 billion estimate. Its AI business contributed more than half of sales, signalling another source of computing demand.
Dan Niles, founder of Niles Investment Management, said the two announcements could start another AI-stock advance. Even if the sector has already peaked, “the odds based on history are high for at least a short-term rally,” he said.
The news strengthened the case for near-term equipment orders, without proving that spending will remain profitable.
AMD stock has a demand story of its ownAMD's rally also reflects expectations that companies will continue buying server processors to run increasingly complex AI applications.
Management has projected server revenue growth of more than 80% year on year during the second half of 2026.
Wedbush analyst Matt Bryson expects third-quarter revenue of approximately $13 billion and sees server CPUs as the likeliest source of upside.
In commentary published by Seeking Alpha on Tuesday, Bryson argued that demand for computing associated with agentic AI continues to outstrip supply. He maintained an Outperform rating and $600 target, while identifying the Helios accelerator rollout as another catalyst.
Nvidia remains more directly exposed to spending on AI accelerators, while Intel's fortunes also depend on its manufacturing turnaround and ability to regain ground in server processors.
The largest uncertainty is not whether customers want additional computing power, but whether they can pay for it while delivering returns to shareholders.
Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Meta are expected to spend more than $700 billion in combined capital expenditure this year, with AI infrastructure accounting for a substantial portion of their investment.
For chip suppliers, delayed construction could mean fewer processor deliveries even when cloud demand remains healthy.
UBS Global Wealth Management strategists said, according to Reuters on Wednesday, that investors would focus on whether strong core businesses can continue supporting elevated AI investment.
Meta reports results after Wednesday's closing bell. Its capital-spending outlook and evidence of AI monetisation could either reinforce the rally or revive fears that investment is outrunning cash generation.
Intel reports on 29 October and AMD on 3 November, providing further tests of demand and profitability.
Focused Alpha LLC reduced its position in shares of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC – Free Report) by 78.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,677 shares of the chip maker’s stock after selling 9,950 shares during the period. Focused Alpha LLC’s holdings in Intel were worth $322,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. ABS Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Intel during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $694,101,000. Montgomery Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Intel during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Intel during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Glynn Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Intel in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Intel by 3,185.7% during the second quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 230 shares of the chip maker’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. 64.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Insider Buying and Selling In related news, CEO Lip Bu Tan acquired 105,263 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $95.00 per share, for a total transaction of $9,999,985.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,314,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $124,893,555. The trade was a 8.70% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.05% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Key Intel News Here are the key news stories impacting Intel this week: Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan removed its bearish rating: JPMorgan upgraded Intel from Underweight to Neutral, saying confidence is building in management execution, manufacturing improvements and chip design. The change helped drive the prior session’s rebound after Intel’s steep decline. Intel Stock Notches Up as JPMorgan Changes Its Mind Positive Sentiment: Foundry and AI opportunities provide longer-term support: Intel’s agreement to manufacture Tesla chips using its planned 14A process, along with new products aimed at AI inference and agentic workloads, gives investors more concrete evidence that its costly foundry strategy could attract meaningful customers and demand. Did Foundry Win Just Shift Intel Investment Narrative? Neutral Sentiment: Analyst views remain divided: JPMorgan’s upgrade signals a more balanced risk/reward outlook, but its reported $85 target remains below recent trading levels. Investors are likely to focus on Intel’s upcoming quarterly results for evidence that the turnaround is translating into sustainable revenue and profitability. Negative Sentiment: TD Cowen cut its target: TD Cowen lowered Intel’s price target from $115 to $95 and maintained a Hold rating, reflecting continued execution risks and limited near-term upside in its view. Intel Price Target Cut Negative Sentiment: Semiconductor sentiment has deteriorated: Intel and other chip stocks fell as investors questioned whether the rapid pace of AI infrastructure spending can continue and whether data-center returns will justify elevated capital expenditures. This sector-wide selling is pressuring Intel despite its company-specific catalysts. Why AI Chip Stocks Are Falling Negative Sentiment: Competitive risks remain: Chinese memory maker CXMT’s progress toward server memory could intensify competition in areas connected to Intel’s data-center ecosystem, while Intel still faces questions about market share, manufacturing execution and the profitability of its foundry investments. Intel Versus Micron and CXMT Competition Intel Stock Down 0.4% Shares of NASDAQ INTC opened at $91.69 on Wednesday. Intel Corporation has a 12-month low of $32.89 and a 12-month high of $142.35. The company has a market capitalization of $462.48 billion, a PE ratio of 148.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.77 and a beta of 2.22. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $102.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $102.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.25.
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The chip maker reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $16.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.43 billion. Intel had a positive return on equity of 2.62% and a negative net margin of 19.79%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.10) earnings per share. Intel has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.380-0.380 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Intel Corporation will post 1.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Roth Capital lifted their target price on Intel from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research downgraded Intel from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Intel in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Pivotal Research assumed coverage on shares of Intel in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Intel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Intel currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.98.
Read Our Latest Report on INTC
Intel Profile (Free Report)
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) is a global semiconductor company that designs and manufactures computing and connectivity products. Its portfolio includes Intel Core processors for personal computers, Xeon processors for data centers and enterprise systems, and products for networking, edge computing, graphics, and artificial intelligence workloads.
Through Intel Foundry, the company also provides semiconductor manufacturing and technology-development services for external customers. Intel develops process technologies, advanced packaging, and other manufacturing capabilities intended to support its own products and third-party chip designs.
Founded in 1968 by Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore, Intel helped establish the modern microprocessor industry and has historically supplied processors for PCs, servers, and other computing systems.
See Also Five stocks we like better than Intel Aurora Rejects Curaleaf’s Higher Bid, But the Takeover Fight Isn’t Over Centrus Energy Is Building a Nuclear Fuel Powerhouse—Why Is Its Stock Struggling? Halliburton Gains Traction: Multiyear Upcycle Ahead Meta Platforms’ AI Comeback Faces an Earnings Test—And a $10 Billion Charge Want to see what other hedge funds are holding INTC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC – Free Report).
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GPU stocks dominated the first wave of AI spending, but the money is quietly shifting toward a different set of chipmakers. Three names are positioned right in that path, and their 2027 price targets require a closer look.
For the first period of the AI build-out, investors poured into GPU makers. Now spending is moving toward custom silicon, optical connectivity, inference CPUs and edge devices, and three chipmakers sit right in that path.
Marvell Technology (NASDAQ:MRVL | MRVL Price Prediction) is up 168.54% year to date. Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) is up 143.5%, and Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) has gained 2.21%. Last week Marvell fell 17.24% and Intel dropped 14.18%, so all three start 2027 from a lower base. Here’s how each could reach a bold target next year.
The spending shift reaches well beyond silicon, into the power, cooling, and networking that feed every new data center (our free report profiles seven of those non-chipmaker suppliers: 7 Stocks Powering the AI Boom (That Aren’t Chipmakers)).
Marvell Can Hit $350 in 2027 if Custom Silicon Delivers
Data center now makes up 79% of Marvell’s revenue, and that business grew 46% last quarter. CEO Matt Murphy said custom silicon “will more than double year over year in fiscal 2028.” An expanded hyperscaler agreement includes a warrant for up to 7% of Marvell’s shares, linked to revenue milestones.
At $227.83, MRVL trades at 31x the fiscal 2028 EPS estimate of $7.2963. Reaching $350 would be a 54% gain and put the stock at 48x earnings. That’s a premium, but analysts expect 73% EPS growth, and 90 days ago the estimate was only $6.1994. What might drive Marvell to $350?
Data center revenue is forecast to rise roughly 75% in the third quarter.
Operating margin could reach the 38% to 40% long-term target range in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2027.
Marvell beat both EPS and revenue estimates in each of its last two reports.
A 1,776.16% 10-year return shows MRVL has produced big gains before.
Qualcomm’s Route to $225 Runs Through Cars and Data Centers
Handset revenue fell 20% last quarter. Automotive revenue rose 61% to a record $1.588 billion, its 23rd straight quarter of double-digit growth. CEO Cristiano Amon expects non-handset growth to accelerate “to greater than 60% in fiscal 2027.” Qualcomm’s two hyperscaler custom chip wins begin generating revenue in the December quarter.
At $172.11, QCOM trades at 17x the fiscal 2027 estimate of $10.1967. A 31% gain to $225 would lift that multiple to 22x. Estimates have slipped from $11.0081 90 days ago, and last quarter’s EPS of $2.21 missed consensus by a penny, ending a six-quarter beat streak.
Qualcomm needs execution to change that picture. Three things could help: double-digit price increases that restore margins, a $5 billion fiscal 2027 data center revenue target, and a 2.07% dividend yield. The stock’s 240.7% 10-year return points to steady gains, which matches a moderate target.
Intel’s Turnaround Points Toward $125
Intel’s revenue grew 25.42% last quarter, its strongest growth in more than 15 years. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.42 beat the $0.22 consensus, and Data Center and AI revenue rose 59%. CEO Lip-Bu Tan said agentic AI “is significantly increasing the need for Intel’s CPUs and wafer and advanced packaging offerings.”
At $89.85, INTC trades at 43x the 2027 estimate of $2.1049. At $125, a 39% gain, the multiple would be 59x. To justify that, Intel has to keep beating the 38% EPS growth already forecast.
Its record helps here. Management referenced the company’s seventh consecutive quarter of topping its own financial expectations, and the 2027 estimate has rose from $1.5847 90 days ago. The biggest risk is Intel Foundry, which is still losing $2.1 billion a quarter.
Bottom Line on All Three Targets for 2027
Marvell needs a 54% gain to reach $350. Qualcomm needs 31% to reach $225, and Intel needs 39% to reach $125. EPS estimates for Marvell and Intel keep rising, and Qualcomm’s growth businesses are getting bigger.
A weaker market or tighter chip supply would make these targets harder to reach. Such gains won’t happen every year, but here is the plan for how these three stocks could post outsized returns in 2027.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Intel Corporation faces extremely high Q3 2026 expectations after a streak of upward analyst revisions and prior earnings beats. INTC's recent 24% stock drop reflects overvaluation and sentiment-driven volatility, contrasting with more fundamentally-driven peers like TSMC. Q3 results are likely to be overshadowed by market sentiment on AI demand, supply constraints, and cautious Q4 guidance.
Nvidia, AMD and Intel stocks came under renewed pressure in Tuesday's US premarket trading, threatening to reverse a semiconductor recovery that lasted barely one session. Nasdaq 100 futures slipped around 0.3% after the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.11% on Monday and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 1.61%.
Intel (INTC - Free Report) ended the recent trading session at $92.03, demonstrating a +2.43% change from the preceding day's closing price. The stock's performance was ahead of the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.41%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a drop of 0.07%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 1.11%.
The world's largest chipmaker's stock has dropped by 17.27% in the past month, falling short of the Computer and Technology sector's loss of 0.92% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.46%.
The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Intel in its upcoming release. The company is slated to reveal its earnings on October 29, 2026. The company is forecasted to report an EPS of $0.39, showcasing a 69.57% upward movement from the corresponding quarter of the prior year. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $16.43 billion, reflecting a 20.33% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.
In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $1.5 per share and a revenue of $62.49 billion, indicating changes of +257.14% and +18.23%, respectively, from the former year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Intel. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-term stock moves. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.23% higher within the past month. Intel is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
In terms of valuation, Intel is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 59.83. This represents a premium compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 32.6.
One should further note that INTC currently holds a PEG ratio of 6.65. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. By the end of yesterday's trading, the Semiconductor - General industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.65.
The Semiconductor - General industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 22, finds itself in the top 9% echelons of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Be sure to use Zacks.com to monitor all these stock-influencing metrics, and more, throughout the forthcoming trading sessions.
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Intel INTC gained about 5% in premarket trading Monday after JPMorgan upgraded the stock, pointing to better operating performance and fresh opportunities tied to AI computing demand.
JPMorgan moved to Neutral from Underweight and retained its $85 price target.
JPMorgan analyst Harlan Sur sees potential for higher earnings estimates as AI systems that perform tasks independently increase demand for central processing units. Limited availability of advanced chip manufacturing capacity could provide another source of support for Intel's earnings outlook through 2027.
The rating change comes after Intel shares retreated about 35% from their June high. Competing chip stocks fell by roughly 20% to 25% over the same period.
The bank also identified progress in Intel's data-center and personal-computing operations, manufacturing processes and advanced packaging under Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan. However, it cautioned that rebuilding the business will take time, while cash flow constraints could create a need for new funding.
Intel's contract chipmaking operation remains far smaller than Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing's, with external foundry revenue below $1 billion on an annualized basis in the first half of 2026, versus approximately $150 billion at its rival.
Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC, XETRA:INL) rose 5% to about $94 on Monday as semiconductor stocks recovered following a steep sell-off that battered the sector last week. The gains followed a difficult week for chipmakers, with Intel, according to Barron's, losing more than 14% as investors questioned the sustainability of artificial intelligence spending and the returns on investments in data centre infrastructure.
Intel (INTC +3.18%) stock jumped 4.6% through 10:55 a.m. ET Monday.
You can thank the friendly analysts at JP Morgan for that -- because they no longer say Intel's a sell.
Image source: Intel.
JP Morgan's Intel upgradeJP Morgan analyst Harlan Sur removed his sell rating on Intel stock this morning, upgrading the semiconductor company from "underweight" to "neutral" -- essentially a shift from sell to hold. And why?
Intel stock is down 36% from its June peak and nearly 22% since the start of October. As Intel drifts ever closer to Sur's $85 target price, more and more risk gets squeezed out of the stock.
There's good reason for that, says Sur in a note covered today on StreetInsider.com: Intel's server CPU market share has dropped from 77% to 53%, and its PC CPU share has dropped from 81% to 68% -- and both those numbers are still falling. The company's foundry business isn't doing so hot, either, with only $1 billion in annualized sales to companies other than Intel -- not even a rounding error next to the $150 billion in annualized sales at archrival TSMC!
INTC Intel$92.71+$2.86 (+3.18%)
NASDAQ · As of 1:15 PM ET 10/19/26
What's next for Intel stockThat's the bad news. The good news is that Sur sees at least some progress being made in foundries. He also thinks new CEO Lip Bu Tan is improving yields, manufacturability, and advanced packaging performance in CPUs destined for AI data centers.
As Intel's turnaround progresses, and as it enjoys a tailwind from demand for artificial intelligence chips, the risk-reward ratio on Intel stock improves. At the same time, many analysts predict Intel will finally turn profitable again next year -- giving the stock a positive P/E ratio that will make Intel stock appear more investable.
I personally think the risk here is still too high, but it's undeniable: The upgrade is giving Intel stock a lift today.
Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Top Wall Street analysts changed their outlook on these top names. For a complete view of all analyst rating changes, including upgrades, downgrades and initiations, please see our analyst ratings page.
JP Morgan analyst Harlan Sur upgraded Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC) from Underweight to Neutral and maintained the price target of $85. Intel closed at $89.85 on Friday. See how other analysts view this stock. Morgan Stanley analyst Stephen Grambling upgraded Boyd Gaming Corp (NYSE:BYD) from Equal-Weight to Overweight and lowered the price target from $89 to $83. Boyd Gaming shares closed at $70.04 on Friday. See how other analysts view this stock. B of A Securities analyst Matthew DeYoe upgraded Dow Inc (NYSE:DOW) from Underperform to Neutral and raised the price target from $29 to $31. Dow closed at $29.93 on Friday. See how other analysts view this stock. Morgan Stanley analyst James Faucette upgraded Global-E Online Ltd (NASDAQ:GLBE) from Equal-Weight to Overweight and raised the price target from $46 to $50. Global E Online shares closed at $38.82 on Friday. See how other analysts view this stock. Bernstein analyst Peter Weed upgraded Datadog Inc (NASDAQ:DDOG) from Market Perform to Outperform and raised the price target from $237 to $350. Datadog closed at $247.11 on Friday. See how other analysts view this stock. Considering buying INTC stock? Here’s what analysts think:
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JPMorgan just dropped its bearish call on Intel after a steep slide, and the chipmaker's stock is surging alongside its rivals. Whether the upgrade signals a genuine turning point or a brief reprieve depends on what Intel's factories and server…
A bearish Wall Street call on the chipmaker just came off the board, and chip stocks are rallying alongside it. Intel (NASDAQ:INTC | INTC Price Prediction) stock is up 4% to $93.68 this morning. Those gains follow a steep slide in Intel stock from its June peak, so the bounce starts from a lower base.
Meanwhile, Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) stock is up 4% to $547.23. NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) stock is up 2% to $217.97, a softer rise than Intel stock or AMD shares. AMD competes with Intel in central processing units (CPUs) and with NVIDIA in artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators.
The iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXX) is up 3%, a sign of how broad the bounce runs. Large-cap tech is moving more slowly, with the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) up 1.32%.
JPMorgan Ends Its Bearish Stance on Intel
JPMorgan analyst Harlan Sur upgraded Intel to Neutral from Underweight in a note. A Neutral rating sits in the middle of the road, closing out a bearish call and framing the gain in Intel stock as a reassessment after its pullback.
Execution in Intel’s core client and data center computing markets, and in next-generation manufacturing, has improved since Lip-Bu Tan became CEO, Sur stated. He expects agentic AI workloads, which lean heavily on central processors, and a tight supply chain for leading-edge chips to drive positive earnings estimate revisions for Intel.
The note carries a caution, though. Sur expects a few more quarters of market-share losses for Intel, especially in server processors. His conclusion is that the risk and reward in Intel stock look more balanced after the steep pullback.
Integrated Chipmaking Sets Intel Apart
Intel designs and manufactures its own processors and is building a contract foundry business. NVIDIA and AMD design chips and rely on outside foundries to manufacture them. That split ties Intel’s results to factory execution as well as chip design, which gives Sur’s comments on next-generation manufacturing extra weight.
Two product groups anchor Intel’s chip business. The Client Computing and Physical AI Group sells processors for PCs, laptops, edge AI and robotics, while the Data Center and AI group supplies Xeon server processors for cloud and enterprise workloads. On the manufacturing side, Intel Foundry offers process technologies including Intel 3 and Intel 18A, along with advanced packaging, for internal and outside customers.
Sur’s agentic AI argument lands squarely on Intel’s server business. Xeon chips compete with AMD’s EPYC processors for data center workloads, while NVIDIA builds accelerated computing platforms such as Blackwell Ultra and Vera Rubin for a separate layer of AI infrastructure. A tight leading-edge supply chain could favor a chipmaker that owns its factories, although Intel still has to convert that capacity into server share (the power, cooling, and networking suppliers riding the same expansion sit outside the chipmakers, and we rounded up seven of them in a free report: here).
Intel stock is outpacing AMD shares and the iShares Semiconductor ETF by only a slim margin, so part of that move tracks a broader chip rallying. NVIDIA shares trail the group, and semiconductors are leading large-cap tech.
Intel’s Third-Quarter Report Becomes the Next Test
Third-quarter 2026 results from Intel are scheduled for release after the market closes on October 29, a date the company hasn’t confirmed. The next test for Intel is whether that report supports the positive earnings estimate revisions Sur expects.
Upside for Intel stock could come from a stronger data center outlook and steadier progress on next-generation manufacturing. Continued server share losses, which Sur expects to persist for a while, mark the clearest risk to the rebound.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Intel (INTC - Free Report) has recently been on Zacks.com's list of the most searched stocks. Therefore, you might want to consider some of the key factors that could influence the stock's performance in the near future.
Over the past month, shares of this world's largest chipmaker have returned -17.3%, compared to the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +1.5% change. During this period, the Zacks Semiconductor - General industry, which Intel falls in, has lost 0.7%. The key question now is: What could be the stock's future direction?
Although media reports or rumors about a significant change in a company's business prospects usually cause its stock to trend and lead to an immediate price change, there are always certain fundamental factors that ultimately drive the buy-and-hold decision.
Revisions to Earnings EstimatesRather than focusing on anything else, we at Zacks prioritize evaluating the change in a company's earnings projection. This is because we believe the fair value for its stock is determined by the present value of its future stream of earnings.
We essentially look at how sell-side analysts covering the stock are revising their earnings estimates to reflect the impact of the latest business trends. And if earnings estimates go up for a company, the fair value for its stock goes up. A higher fair value than the current market price drives investors' interest in buying the stock, leading to its price moving higher. This is why empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.
Intel is expected to post earnings of $0.39 per share for the current quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +69.6%. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate has changed +0.6%.
For the current fiscal year, the consensus earnings estimate of $1.5 points to a change of +257.1% from the prior year. Over the last 30 days, this estimate has changed +0.2%.
For the next fiscal year, the consensus earnings estimate of $1.97 indicates a change of +31.4% from what Intel is expected to report a year ago. Over the past month, the estimate has changed +0.5%.
With an impressive externally audited track record, our proprietary stock rating tool -- the Zacks Rank -- is a more conclusive indicator of a stock's near-term price performance, as it effectively harnesses the power of earnings estimate revisions. The size of the recent change in the consensus estimate, along with three other factors related to earnings estimates, has resulted in a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) for Intel.
The chart below shows the evolution of the company's forward 12-month consensus EPS estimate:
12 Month EPS
Projected Revenue GrowthWhile earnings growth is arguably the most superior indicator of a company's financial health, nothing happens as such if a business isn't able to grow its revenues. After all, it's nearly impossible for a company to increase its earnings for an extended period without increasing its revenues. So, it's important to know a company's potential revenue growth.
In the case of Intel, the consensus sales estimate of $16.43 billion for the current quarter points to a year-over-year change of +20.3%. The $62.49 billion and $71.58 billion estimates for the current and next fiscal years indicate changes of +18.2% and +14.5%, respectively.
Last Reported Results and Surprise HistoryIntel reported revenues of $16.13 billion in the last reported quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +25.4%. EPS of $0.42 for the same period compares with -$0.1 a year ago.
Compared to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $14.41 billion, the reported revenues represent a surprise of +11.89%. The EPS surprise was +100%.
The company beat consensus EPS estimates in each of the trailing four quarters. The company topped consensus revenue estimates each time over this period.
ValuationNo investment decision can be efficient without considering a stock's valuation. Whether a stock's current price rightly reflects the intrinsic value of the underlying business and the company's growth prospects is an essential determinant of its future price performance.
While comparing the current values of a company's valuation multiples, such as price-to-earnings (P/E), price-to-sales (P/S), and price-to-cash flow (P/CF), with its own historical values helps determine whether its stock is fairly valued, overvalued, or undervalued, comparing the company relative to its peers on these parameters gives a good sense of the reasonability of the stock's price.
As part of the Zacks Style Scores system, the Zacks Value Style Score (which evaluates both traditional and unconventional valuation metrics) organizes stocks into five groups ranging from A to F (A is better than B; B is better than C; and so on), making it helpful in identifying whether a stock is overvalued, rightly valued, or temporarily undervalued.
Intel is graded F on this front, indicating that it is trading at a premium to its peers. Click here to see the values of some of the valuation metrics that have driven this grade.
ConclusionThe facts discussed here and much other information on Zacks.com might help determine whether or not it's worthwhile paying attention to the market buzz about Intel. However, its Zacks Rank #2 does suggest that it may outperform the broader market in the near term.
Daily December E-mini Nasdaq 100 Index Futures December E-mini Nasdaq-100 Index futures are trading sharply higher in a rebound rally. The main trend is down according to the daily swing chart. A trade through the swing bottom at 29053.00 will reaffirm the downtrend. The main trend will change to up on a move through the record high at 31616.50.
The minor trend is also down. A trade through 30225.00 will change the minor trend to up and shift momentum to the upside.
The long-term range is 27493.75 to 31616.50. Its retracement zone at 29555.25 to 29068.75 was successfully tested early in the session at 29226.00. The intermediate range is 29053.00 to 31616.50. Its retracement zone at 30032.25 to 30334.75 is the first target zone.
The short-term range is 31616.50 to 29226.00. Its retracement zone at 30421.25 to 30703.25 is the key target area. The 50-day moving average at 30175.22 is controlling the momentum. Since the index is currently trading on the weak side of this indicator, it is also potential resistance.
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Daily December E-mini S&P 500 Index Futures Technical Analysis
Daily CoreWeave, Inc. CoreWeave was up about 6% after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock. It fell 25% last week, its largest weekly decline since November 2025. Credit default swaps on the company reached distress levels during that selloff. The stock is recovering Monday. The debt trade remains in front of it.
AMD and Micron joined the move. The names that got hit last week are getting the first bids back. That is where the buying is.
Earnings Have to Take It from Here Meta Platforms and Tesla report this week. Friday’s put volume was the second-highest of the year, according to Goldman. Anthropic posted 16.8 billion in third-quarter revenue after reporting 11.6 billion in the second quarter. Traders had already moved on to the spending side of the AI trade last week.
Amazon was also higher after Morgan Stanley named the stock a top pick and raised its price target. Datadog gained after a Bernstein upgrade. Cleveland-Cliffs was up more than 10% after topping third-quarter earnings estimates. Monday has more green on the screen. Last week’s selling put these stocks back where buyers would take a look.
What to Watch The Intel call brought buyers into the chip stocks. Meta and Tesla report this week. CoreWeave is up, yet its debt remains part of the AI trade.
For December E-mini Nasdaq-100 Index futures, our bias is to the downside with the main trend down and the index on the weak side of the 50-day moving average. We recognize the buying after the successful test of the retracement zone at 29555.25 to 29068.75. Counter-trend momentum could carry the index into 30032.25 to 30334.75, then 30421.25 to 30703.25. Sellers could reemerge in these areas in an attempt to form a secondary lower top. If successful, the downtrend is likely to resume.
Intel and AMD shares rebounded on Monday after a difficult week, as investors bought the dip and falling oil prices provided additional support to the broader market.
Intel shares INTC rose nearly over 4% at the market open, while AMD gained more than 3%.
The gains came as investors responded to an upgrade from JPMorgan and a decline in crude prices following US President Donald Trump’s decision to waive some sanctions on Russia.
Brent crude futures fell 1.3% to $108.40 a barrel after settling at a five-month high on Friday.
US crude futures slipped 0.3% to $101.15 a barrel.
The broader market also opened higher, with the S&P 500 gaining about 0.6% and the Nasdaq rising more than 1% at the open.
JPMorgan upgraded Intel to Neutral from Underweight, citing improved execution under chief executive Lip-Bu Tan and growing demand for AI computing that could support earnings growth.
Analyst Harlan Sur said the risk-reward profile had become more balanced as the stock approached the bank’s $85 price target.
Intel shares have pulled back about 36% from their June peak, compared with a decline of 20% to 25% across the broader semiconductor group, Sur noted.
Since JPMorgan downgraded Intel in November 2022, the company’s share of server x86 CPU revenue has fallen from 77% to 53%, while its share of the PC CPU market has declined from 81% to 68%.
Sur expects Intel to lose further market share over the next few quarters, particularly in server CPUs.
However, he sees potential support for earnings from growing demand for computing resources and a tight supply chain for advanced chips.
"We believe increasing agentic AI workloads (CPU-intensive) and a very tight supply chain for leading-edge silicon should drive continued positive EPS revisions in the upcoming earnings season and through CY27 (our CY28 EPS estimates are ~15% above consensus)," Sur said.
JPMorgan’s earnings-per-share estimates for 2028 are about 15% above consensus, suggesting the bank sees room for earnings expectations to improve.
JPMorgan also highlighted improvements in Intel’s manufacturing operations and foundry business under Tan.
Sur said Intel had made progress on yields, manufacturability, compatibility between foundry processes and design rules, and advanced packaging.
The company has also been pursuing new customer engagements.
However, Intel’s external foundry business remains small compared with industry leader TSMC.
Intel generated barely $1 billion in annualised external foundry revenue in the first half of 2026, compared with $150 billion for TSMC.
Sur said the improvements extended beyond manufacturing.
"More importantly, since Lip Bu Tan's appointment to CEO, we believe the team's execution and competitiveness in their core client/datacenter compute market has improved, the team's execution on next-gen manufacturing has significantly improved (yields, manufacturability, foundry process/design rule compatibility, advanced packaging) and the team has several initiatives (ASICs) which exploit INTC's strong IP portfolio, SOC design capabilities, and leading edge internal manufacturing capabilities," Sur said.
JPMorgan will continue to monitor Intel’s data centre CPU roadmaps, AI computing strategy, foundry customer engagements and pipeline of application-specific integrated circuit design wins.
Intel also announced on Monday that it had enabled day-zero support for Meta Platforms Inc.’s Muse Spark Open, an 816-billion-parameter AI model, across its Xeon processors and upcoming GPU D-series.
The company said it had successfully tested the model on four GPU D-series cards, each equipped with 160 GB of memory.
Intel said the cards’ air-cooled design allows them to be deployed in conventional data centres, potentially reducing infrastructure complexity.
JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) analyst Harlan Sur estimated on Monday, October 19, that the brutal Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) correction that took the stock 36.25% lower from its June high above $140 is nearing its end.
Intel stock price YTD chart with INTC performance since late June highlighted. Source: Google
Indeed, the Wall Street analyst upgraded his INTC equity rating from ‘Underweight’ – ‘Sell’ – to ‘Neutral’ – ‘Hold’ – though he retained his previous $85 price target, indicating a minor decline from the latest close at $89.85 remains in the cards for the next 12 months.
According to the note, Harlan Sur’s decision to improve his Intel stock outlook was driven by the depth of the correction by press time, as well as the appointment of CEO Lip-Bu Tan, who is estimated to have improved the firm’s execution and competitiveness in its core data center compute market.
Likewise, JPMorgan estimates the blue-chip semiconductor giant’s next-generation manufacturing has also improved substantially.
Analysts predict Intel stock price in the next 12 months
Meanwhile, despite being an upgrade, the most recent Intel stock forecast remains well below the Wall Street average.
Indeed, based on all notes issued within the last three months, INTC shares are expected to rally 26.92% to $114.04 within the next 12 months, per the data Finbold retrieved from TipRanks on October 19.
The rating is, however, in line with the consensus. Intel stock is considered a ‘Hold’ overall, with six ‘Buy’, twenty-three ‘Neutral’, and one ‘Sell’ recommendation.
Wall Street sets Intel stock price for the next 12 months. Source: TipRanks
Intel stock price performance
Lastly, the high average price target is arguably the result of the severity of INTC equity’s latest drop.
Specifically, after starting 2026 at $39.38, Intel stock soared 257.90% to above $140 by late June and then suffered a severe reversal before recovering somewhat to roughly $127 between late August and late September.
Intel stock price one-month chart with INTC performance in October highlighted. Source: Google
The most recent three weeks then brought one of the sharpest downturns the equity has faced. Intel shares are, at their latest closing price of $89.85, 29.47% down from the September 23 temporary high and have crashed 25.27% since October started.
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Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC increased its stake in Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC – Free Report) by 58.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 88,782 shares of the chip maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 32,650 shares during the period. Intel makes up approximately 0.9% of Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC’s holdings in Intel were worth $10,674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in INTC. Gemmer Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Intel by 0.4% during the third quarter. Gemmer Asset Management LLC now owns 36,506 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $4,389,000 after buying an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. lifted its stake in Intel by 16.4% in the third quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 6,393 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $769,000 after acquiring an additional 899 shares during the last quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Intel during the 3rd quarter valued at about $267,000. Fulcrum Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Intel during the third quarter worth approximately $225,000. Finally, Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Intel by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 7,892 shares of the chip maker’s stock worth $949,000 after buying an additional 499 shares during the period. 64.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Intel News Roundup Here are the key news stories impacting Intel this week:
Positive Sentiment: Intel’s history of exceeding earnings estimates and favorable revenue and earnings trends are prompting analysts to argue that the company could deliver another quarterly beat. Will Intel Beat Estimates Again in Its Next Earnings Report? Positive Sentiment: Consumer research from LikeFolio indicates improving sentiment toward Intel, suggesting demand for its products remains resilient even as Nvidia introduces competing laptops. Consumer Sentiment Surge Follows Stock Trends Positive Sentiment: One prominent analyst sees substantial upside if Intel successfully executes its foundry strategy and wins advanced AI-chip manufacturing business, although that thesis depends on an unproven turnaround. Analyst Says Intel Could Double Neutral Sentiment: The administration’s new review of AI risks could lead to future regulation of AI systems and data centers. The report is not an Intel-specific development, but could affect demand for AI infrastructure over time. Trump Task Force Orders Report on AI Dangers Negative Sentiment: A broad rotation out of AI and semiconductor stocks is pressuring Intel, AMD and other chipmakers as investors question AI infrastructure valuations, financing conditions and the durability of spending. Rotation Out of AI Chip Stocks Continues Negative Sentiment: Investors are also weighing competitive and operational risks: TSMC suggested it could support customers if Intel’s advanced-packaging ramp falls short, while an explosion and fire at Intel’s Kiryat Gat facility in Israel added company-specific uncertainty. Reports of progress by Chinese rival CXMT further intensified concerns about Intel’s competitive position. TSMC Comments on Intel Packaging Ramp Insider Activity In other Intel news, CEO Lip Bu Tan purchased 105,263 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $95.00 per share, with a total value of $9,999,985.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,314,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $124,893,555. This represents a 8.70% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock. Analyst Ratings Changes Several brokerages have recently issued reports on INTC. UBS Group raised Intel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Intel from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Bank of America cut their price target on Intel from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on Intel from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Intel from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.06.
Read Our Latest Research Report on INTC
Intel Stock Performance Shares of NASDAQ:INTC opened at $89.85 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $103.05 and a 200-day moving average of $101.31. The firm has a market cap of $453.20 billion, a PE ratio of -42.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.57 and a beta of 2.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.60. Intel Corporation has a twelve month low of $32.89 and a twelve month high of $142.35.
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The chip maker reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $16.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.43 billion. Intel had a negative net margin of 19.79% and a positive return on equity of 2.62%. The company’s revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.10) earnings per share. Intel has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.380-0.380 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Intel Corporation will post 1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.
About Intel (Free Report)
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) is a global semiconductor company that designs and manufactures computing and connectivity products. Its portfolio includes Intel Core processors for personal computers, Xeon processors for data centers and enterprise systems, and products for networking, edge computing, graphics, and artificial intelligence workloads.
Through Intel Foundry, the company also provides semiconductor manufacturing and technology-development services for external customers. Intel develops process technologies, advanced packaging, and other manufacturing capabilities intended to support its own products and third-party chip designs.
Founded in 1968 by Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore, Intel helped establish the modern microprocessor industry and has historically supplied processors for PCs, servers, and other computing systems.
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Baugh & Associates LLC lifted its position in Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC – Free Report) by 5.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 125,464 shares of the chip maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,714 shares during the period. Intel accounts for about 5.2% of Baugh & Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Baugh & Associates LLC’s holdings in Intel were worth $15,085,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in INTC. Annex Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Intel by 106.1% during the 3rd quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,973 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $1,680,000 after purchasing an additional 7,192 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Enterprises LLC lifted its position in Intel by 139.6% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Enterprises LLC now owns 10,413 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $1,252,000 after purchasing an additional 6,067 shares during the period. Goldstein Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Intel in the third quarter valued at $230,000. Milestone Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Intel by 227.5% in the 3rd quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC now owns 15,604 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $1,876,000 after buying an additional 10,839 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Intel by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,002 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.53% of the company’s stock.
Intel Trading Down 5.8% Shares of INTC stock opened at $89.85 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $103.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.31. The firm has a market cap of $453.20 billion, a PE ratio of 153.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.15 and a beta of 2.22. Intel Corporation has a 1-year low of $32.89 and a 1-year high of $142.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.25.
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The chip maker reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.21. Intel had a negative net margin of 19.79% and a positive return on equity of 2.62%. The firm had revenue of $16.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.10) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Intel has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.380-0.380 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Intel Corporation will post 1.04 EPS for the current year. Intel News Roundup Here are the key news stories impacting Intel this week:
Positive Sentiment: Intel’s history of exceeding earnings estimates and favorable revenue and earnings trends are prompting analysts to argue that the company could deliver another quarterly beat. Will Intel Beat Estimates Again in Its Next Earnings Report? Positive Sentiment: Consumer research from LikeFolio indicates improving sentiment toward Intel, suggesting demand for its products remains resilient even as Nvidia introduces competing laptops. Consumer Sentiment Surge Follows Stock Trends Positive Sentiment: One prominent analyst sees substantial upside if Intel successfully executes its foundry strategy and wins advanced AI-chip manufacturing business, although that thesis depends on an unproven turnaround. Analyst Says Intel Could Double Neutral Sentiment: The administration’s new review of AI risks could lead to future regulation of AI systems and data centers. The report is not an Intel-specific development, but could affect demand for AI infrastructure over time. Trump Task Force Orders Report on AI Dangers Negative Sentiment: A broad rotation out of AI and semiconductor stocks is pressuring Intel, AMD and other chipmakers as investors question AI infrastructure valuations, financing conditions and the durability of spending. Rotation Out of AI Chip Stocks Continues Negative Sentiment: Investors are also weighing competitive and operational risks: TSMC suggested it could support customers if Intel’s advanced-packaging ramp falls short, while an explosion and fire at Intel’s Kiryat Gat facility in Israel added company-specific uncertainty. Reports of progress by Chinese rival CXMT further intensified concerns about Intel’s competitive position. TSMC Comments on Intel Packaging Ramp Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several research firms recently commented on INTC. HSBC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Intel in a report on Friday, July 24th. Seaport Research Partners reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Intel in a research report on Friday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Intel from $45.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Intel in a report on Monday, September 21st. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Intel from $92.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.06.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Intel
Insiders Place Their Bets In related news, CEO Lip Bu Tan purchased 105,263 shares of Intel stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $95.00 per share, with a total value of $9,999,985.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,314,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $124,893,555. This trade represents a 8.70% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Intel Profile (Free Report)
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) is a global semiconductor company that designs and manufactures computing and connectivity products. Its portfolio includes central processing units (CPUs), graphics and accelerator products, chipsets, networking components, and other semiconductor solutions used in personal computers, servers, cloud infrastructure, artificial intelligence systems, and embedded applications.
The company serves a broad range of customers, including original equipment manufacturers, cloud service providers, enterprise businesses, telecommunications companies, government organizations, and other technology firms.
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Intel (INTC -5.79%) has been one of the market's big winners this year. The stock trades up about 170% year-to-date as of Oct. 14, 2026, compared to about 13% for the S&P 500. It could keep outperforming in 2027 for one reason: Intel's surging data center business.
Intel's data center and AI segment sells the server processors that power cloud computing and AI services. Its revenue grew 59% year over year to about $6.3 billion in the second quarter. That helped drive the company's strongest revenue growth in more than 15 years.
Image source: Getty Images.
Demand for AI inference applications, including agents, could drive more demand for central processing units (CPUs), which is Intel's expertise. Inference workloads are boosting orders for server CPUs, and Intel expects industry-wide server processor unit shipments to grow by strong double digits through 2027, with momentum carrying into 2028.
INTC Intel$89.85-$5.52 (-5.79%)
NASDAQ · As of 4:00 PM ET 10/16/26
Intel is also bringing better products to market. It launched its first server chip, Xeon 6+, built on its new 18A manufacturing process, and 18A production is running ahead of the company's internal targets.
The stock looks expensive, trading at about 47 times next year's earnings estimates. But Intel's earnings are recovering from depressed levels and are expected to grow at an annualized rate of 69% over the next several years. Relative to expected growth, the stock trades at a PEG ratio of 0.8, which looks attractive.
Investors will get an update when Intel reports third-quarter results on Oct. 29. If the data center business continues to grow at this pace, the stock could outperform in 2027.
John Ballard has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Intel. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
