TLDR
- TD Cowen raised Intel’s price target from $20 to $35 while maintaining a hold rating, though the target still suggests a 10.64% downside from current levels
- Intel launched its Core Ultra series 3 processor using new 18A process technology, marking the first chip manufactured at its Arizona Fab 52 plant
- The company missed EPS estimates by $0.11 in Q2, reporting a loss of $0.10 per share, but exceeded revenue expectations with $12.86 billion
- Major institutional investors including Norges Bank and Nuveen purchased substantial stakes worth over $1.5 billion and $538 million respectively
- Intel’s stock jumped 3.6% on Friday and is up over 80% year-to-date following investments from the Trump administration, Nvidia, and SoftBank
Intel received a price target boost from TD Cowen on Friday, jumping from $20 to $35. The firm maintained its hold rating on the stock.
The new target still suggests a 10.64% downside from current trading levels. Intel shares opened at $39.17 on Friday, up 3.6%.
The price target increase came alongside Intel’s announcement of its Core Ultra series 3 processor. This chip represents a major milestone for the company.
The new processor uses Intel’s 18A process technology. It’s the first chip built at the company’s Fab 52 plant in Arizona.
Intel calls the 18A process the world’s most advanced chip technology developed and built in America. The chips will enter high-volume production this year and ship before year-end.
The Core Ultra series 3 comes in three variants. Options include an 8-core CPU with up to 4Xe GPU cores, a 16-core CPU with up to 4Xe GPU cores, and a 16-core CPU with up to 12Xe GPU cores.
Performance specs look promising on paper. Intel claims up to 50% improvement in multi-thread performance over previous generations.
Single-thread performance should increase by 10%. GPU performance could jump as much as 50%.
The chip supports up to 96GB of memory. It offers up to 180 trillion operations per second, a key metric for AI workloads.
Institutional Money Flows In
While analysts remain cautious, institutional investors are betting big. Norges Bank purchased a new position worth $1.58 billion in the second quarter.
Nuveen bought shares worth $538.43 million. Kingstone Capital Partners picked up $345.25 million in stock.
Price T Rowe Associates grew its holdings by 99.8%. Goldman Sachs increased its position by 133.3%.
Institutional investors now own 64.53% of Intel’s outstanding shares. This represents a vote of confidence from major money managers.
Mixed Financial Results
Intel’s Q2 earnings painted a complicated picture. The company reported a loss of $0.10 per share, missing estimates by $0.11.
Revenue told a different story. Intel brought in $12.86 billion, beating the $11.88 billion consensus estimate.
Revenue grew 0.5% year-over-year. The company posted a negative net margin of 38.64% and negative return on equity of 3.78%.
Intel trades at a market cap of $171.43 billion. The stock carries a beta of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.
The 50-day moving average sits at $26.82. The 200-day moving average comes in at $23.16.
Wall Street Remains Split
Analyst sentiment leans pessimistic overall. The stock has 2 buy ratings, 23 hold ratings, and 7 sell ratings.
The consensus rating is reduce. The average price target of $26.63 suggests a 30% drop from current levels.
Citigroup maintains a sell rating with a $29 price target. Sanford C. Bernstein and Roth Capital both rate the stock as neutral.
Mizuho lifted its target from $22 to $23. Stifel Nicolaus increased its target from $21 to $24.50.
Sell-side analysts forecast Intel will post negative $0.11 earnings per share for the full year. The company provided guidance of $0.00 to $0.00 EPS for Q3 2025.
Intel also unveiled its Xeon 6+ data center processor based on 18A technology. The chip could help attract customers to Intel’s foundry services.
The company received investments from the Trump administration, which took a roughly 10% stake. Nvidia purchased $5 billion in stock as part of a deal for Intel to build CPUs for the AI company.
SoftBank invested $2 billion in Intel. These deals helped push shares up over 80% year-to-date.
