Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) Trading Up 2.3% – Here’s What Happened

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)’s share price shot up 2.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $68.28 and last traded at $66.78. 128,608,467 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 18% from the average session volume of 108,937,813 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.27.

Intel News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Intel this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Tesla confirmed it will use Intel’s 14A process for chips at its Terafab project, giving Intel a high‑profile foundry customer and validating Intel’s process roadmap. Tesla Picks Intel (INTC) to Build Its AI Chips — What It Means for Investors
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple brokerages have moved to upgrade Intel or raise targets (HSBC, BNP Paribas, Stifel coverage noted), supporting the re‑rating thesis tied to server CPU demand and foundry progress. Why Intel Stock (INTC) Is Rising Today – and Why a Top Analyst Upgrades it to ‘Buy’
• Positive Sentiment: Commentators including Jim Cramer are calling Intel a comeback story and highlighting CPUs as a growing tailwind from the AI cycle, which supports momentum buying. Move Over, Nvidia: Why Jim Cramer Says the AI Boom Is Finally Hitting Intel
• Neutral Sentiment: Options traders and volatility models expect a sizable post‑earnings swing (roughly a ~10% implied move), pointing to amplified short‑term risk/reward around the Q1 print. Intel Will Report Q1 Earnings Tomorrow. Options Traders Expect a 9.87% Move in INTC Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street and the financial press are focused on tomorrow’s Q1 release — the print and, crucially, management guidance — which will likely determine whether the rally is sustainable. Intel to Report Earnings. The Focus Is on What Comes Next.
• Negative Sentiment: Several commentators and technical analysts warn the rally may be overstretched and vulnerable to a corrective “sell‑the‑news” reaction if earnings/guidance don’t materially beat elevated expectations. Bull v. Bear: Why INTC Might Need to “Promise the World” in Guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Questions remain about foundry profitability and Intel’s ability to attract and scale external foundry customers beyond marquee wins — a structural risk if margins and cash flow from the foundry business lag expectations. 1 Big Reason Analysts are Divided on Intel

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on INTC shares. HSBC raised shares of Intel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $50.00 to $95.00 in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup initiated coverage on Intel in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised Intel from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Intel in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, New Street Research upped their price objective on Intel from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.86.

Intel Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $333.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -834.65, a PEG ratio of 15.77 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $49.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.84.

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The chip maker reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $13.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.37 billion. Intel had a negative return on equity of 0.44% and a negative net margin of 0.51%.Intel’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.13 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Intel Corporation will post 0.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Boise April Miller sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.05, for a total transaction of $981,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 113,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,545,593. This represents a 15.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP David Zinsner bought 5,882 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $42.50 per share, for a total transaction of $249,985.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 247,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,514,160. This represents a 2.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.05% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Intel by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 404,522,308 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $14,926,873,000 after buying an additional 13,692,624 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Intel by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 208,536,784 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $7,695,007,000 after acquiring an additional 5,714,400 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Intel by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 104,060,268 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $3,839,833,000 after acquiring an additional 17,557,147 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Intel by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 101,931,512 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $3,744,406,000 after acquiring an additional 3,124,798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Intel by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 65,249,269 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $2,407,698,000 after acquiring an additional 11,056,090 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.53% of the company’s stock.

Intel Company Profile

Intel Corporation, founded in 1968 by Robert Noyce and Gordon E. Moore and headquartered in Santa Clara, California, is a leading global designer and manufacturer of semiconductor products. The company is historically notable for introducing the first commercial microprocessor and for driving the x86 architecture that underpins many personal computers and servers. Intel’s core business spans the design, fabrication and marketing of processors, chipsets and related components for a wide range of computing applications.

Intel’s product portfolio includes client and mobile processors marketed under brands such as Intel Core and Pentium, as well as high-performance Xeon processors for data centers and cloud infrastructure.