Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) Shares Up 3.9% – Should You Buy?

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) traded up 3.9% on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $127.44 and last traded at $127.39. 118,057,450 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 0% from the average daily volume of 117,859,852 shares. The stock had previously closed at $122.60.

More Intel News

Here are the key news stories impacting Intel this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Optimism about “agentic AI” is supporting Intel’s outlook. Meta’s AI-agent initiatives are prompting speculation that data centers may need more CPUs for orchestration and inference workloads, keeping Intel involved in the AI infrastructure buildout. Intel Shares Rise as Agentic AI Keeps CPUs in the Loop
• Positive Sentiment: Intel is benefiting from broader semiconductor strength and renewed interest in AI-driven chip demand. Market coverage also highlighted the company’s micro-LED work in glass substrates and potential technology advances as part of its turnaround narrative. AMD, NVIDIA and Intel Forecast: Chip Stocks Push Higher
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage characterizes Intel’s recovery as increasingly supported by improving financial performance and the possibility of future external foundry customers. Intel’s latest reported quarter exceeded consensus expectations on earnings and revenue, strengthening the turnaround case. Intel’s Comeback Is Real
• Neutral Sentiment: Intel is attracting substantial investor attention and is a major holding in at least one high-performing semiconductor ETF, which may support trading demand but does not change the company’s fundamentals. Meet the Super Semiconductor ETF
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation is the main pressure point. After a roughly 293% rally, commentary says Intel’s sales multiple has moved above the semiconductor-industry average, leaving less room for disappointment. Intel’s 293% Rally Is Putting Its Valuation to the Test
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts remain cautious: TD Cowen reiterated a Hold rating with a $115 target, while Bernstein maintained Neutral. Analysts say Intel needs stronger Products revenue, not only foundry progress, to support additional upside. Products Growth Matters as Much as Foundry Growth
• Negative Sentiment: Higher Treasury yields and profit-taking after Intel’s extended advance are weighing on technology stocks. Some reports also argue that additional CPU demand from Meta’s AI agents may not translate into meaningfully higher Intel profits. Meta’s AI Agents Are Putting CPUs in Data Centers

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on INTC shares. Wolfe Research began coverage on Intel in a report on Thursday, June 11th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. UBS Group upgraded Intel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Intel in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Arete Research raised their target price on shares of Intel from $20.40 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Intel from $75.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $108.49.

Intel Stock Down 3.4%

The firm has a market cap of $620.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -58.29, a P/E/G ratio of 13.59 and a beta of 2.22. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $99.07 and its 200 day moving average is $94.64. 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) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.43 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.10) earnings per share. 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. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Intel Corporation will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Intel

In other news, CEO Lip Bu Tan purchased 105,263 shares of Intel stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $95.00 per share, for a total transaction of $9,999,985.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,314,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $124,893,555. This trade represents a 8.70% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.05% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intel

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Intel by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 216,849,675 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $30,278,720,000 after purchasing an additional 2,528,657 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased 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 worth $3,839,833,000 after purchasing an additional 17,557,147 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA acquired a new stake in shares of Intel in the second quarter valued at approximately $10,507,291,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Intel in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,233,159,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Intel by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 49,597,201 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $1,830,137,000 after buying an additional 1,938,277 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.53% of the company’s stock.

About Intel

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) is a global semiconductor company that designs and manufactures computing and communications products. Its portfolio includes Intel Core processors for personal computers, Xeon processors for data centers and enterprise systems, and products for edge computing, networking, and other specialized applications.

Intel also develops graphics processing units under its Intel Arc and Intel Data Center GPU brands, Gaudi artificial intelligence accelerators, Ethernet products, software, and related platform technologies.