Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) Trading Up 4.4% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) traded up 4.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $92.95 and last traded at $92.09. Approximately 99,503,133 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 17% from the average session volume of 119,222,078 shares. The stock had previously closed at $88.24.

Key Intel News

Here are the key news stories impacting Intel this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Chief Executive Officer Lip-Bu Tan reportedly purchased approximately $10 million of Intel stock at $95 per share earlier this month. The shares now trade below that level, making the purchase a potential signal of management’s confidence in Intel’s turnaround. Intel CEO insider purchase article
• Positive Sentiment: Fundstrat ETFs added Intel to a quarterly rebalance, which could provide incremental institutional demand and reflects improving sentiment toward the chipmaker. Fundstrat ETF rebalance article
• Positive Sentiment: Intel has gained attention from investors following reports of a new Advantech connection and its potential role in AI infrastructure. Strong Nvidia results also reinforced expectations that demand for data-center and AI-related hardware remains robust. Intel Advantech connection article
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that investor Nancy Pelosi bought Intel shares and call options may support retail and political-investor interest, but the trade does not change Intel’s operating outlook. Nancy Pelosi Intel investment article
• Negative Sentiment: Intel’s manufacturing operations reportedly continue to lose money on wafers, much of which are sold internally. The stock’s elevated valuation appears to assume that the foundry business eventually becomes profitable, leaving substantial execution risk if losses persist. Intel manufacturing losses article
• Negative Sentiment: Intel is also being pressured by broad semiconductor profit-taking after Nvidia’s earnings-fueled rally. Raymond James reportedly prefers AMD over Intel among the two AI-exposed CPU companies, highlighting competitive concerns and uncertainty over Intel’s ability to convert AI demand into durable growth. Semiconductor profit-taking article

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Benchmark upped their price objective on Intel from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Roth Capital increased their price target on shares of Intel from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Intel in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Intel from $80.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Intel in a research report on Friday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, thirty-one have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.46.

Intel Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.60. The company has a market cap of $451.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -42.40 and a beta of 2.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $104.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.39.

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The chip maker reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.21. The company 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.10) EPS. Intel has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.380-0.380 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Intel Corporation will post 1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Intel news, CEO Lip Bu Tan purchased 105,263 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,314,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $124,893,555. This trade represents a 8.70% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Financially Speaking Inc grew its position in shares of Intel by 69.2% in the fourth quarter. Financially Speaking Inc now owns 682 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in Intel during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Montgomery Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Intel in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Glynn Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Intel in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Intel in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 64.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Intel

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.