Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) Shares Up 4.9% – Still a Buy?

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)’s stock price was up 4.9% on Friday . The company traded as high as $51.30 and last traded at $50.59. Approximately 111,496,101 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 21% from the average daily volume of 140,391,109 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.24.

More Intel News

Here are the key news stories impacting Intel this week:

• Positive Sentiment: MarketBeat notes Intel’s “AI offensive” — re-entry into discrete GPUs (Project Crescent Island), a SoftBank memory partnership and hiring of top GPU talent — framing a credible long-term growth story tied to AI inference demand. Intel Stock Is Priced for Ruin, But the AI Offensive Is Here
• Positive Sentiment: Reuters reports Vista Equity Partners and Intel will lead a >$350M funding round in AI-chip startup SambaNova — a sign Intel is actively investing in the AI ecosystem, which can accelerate partnerships, IP access and market positioning. Exclusive: Vista Equity Partners and Intel to lead investment in AI chip startup Samba Nova, sources say
• Positive Sentiment: Fool reports the rally was supported by large capex orders (notably from cloud customers) and talks of CPU price hikes — both signal robust demand and pricing power for server chips. Strong demand can lift near-term revenue and margins. Why Intel Was Rallying Today
• Neutral Sentiment: Retail and analyst attention is elevated (trending on Zacks/market pages) — higher visibility can amplify moves in either direction but doesn’t change fundamentals by itself. Here is What to Know Beyond Why Intel Corporation (INTC) is a Trending Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple outlets (Reuters/Benzinga) say Intel notified Chinese customers of lengthy server-CPU waits (reports of up to ~6 months). These supply constraints can depress near-term sales and produce weaker guidance even as demand remains high. Exclusive: Intel, AMD notify customers in China of lengthy waits for CPUs
• Negative Sentiment: There are small insider / director share sales reported (Amer. Banking News / filings). While single instances aren’t decisive, they add to near-term sentiment risk for traders focused on leaves of ownership. Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) Stock Price Down 1.3% After Insider Selling
• Negative Sentiment: Commentary (Forbes) highlights INTC’s history of sharp corrections and execution risk — a reminder valuation and execution remain important risks despite the strategic pivot. How Intel Stock Can Drop From $50 Levels

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Intel from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Intel from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Intel in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Intel from $30.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Melius Research raised Intel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, January 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $45.76.

Intel Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $252.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -632.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 15.69 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The chip maker reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $13.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.37 billion. Intel had a negative net margin of 0.51% and a negative return on equity of 0.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.13 EPS. Intel has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.000-0.000 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Intel Corporation will post -0.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Intel

In related news, EVP Boise April Miller sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 113,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,545,593. This trade represents a 15.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP David Zinsner bought 5,882 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $42.50 per share, with a total value of $249,985.00. Following the purchase, the executive vice president directly owned 247,392 shares in the company, valued at $10,514,160. The trade was a 2.44% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intel

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Bridge LLC purchased a new stake in Intel in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Intel during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Corundum Trust Company INC purchased a new stake in shares of Intel in the third quarter valued at $29,000. HighMark Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Intel by 177.7% in the fourth quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 886 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Intel by 89.2% during the third quarter. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 946 shares of the chip maker’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 446 shares during the period. 64.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.