Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) Upgraded to “Outperform” at KGI Securities

KGI Securities upgraded shares of Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have $95.00 price objective on the chip maker’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $98.00 target price on shares of Intel in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America lowered Intel from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Friday. Citigroup started coverage on Intel in a research note on Monday, October 19th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $85.00 price objective on Intel in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners lowered Intel from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Intel currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.86.

Intel Trading Down 28.6%

Shares of Intel stock opened at $65.76 on Friday. Intel has a twelve month low of $32.89 and a twelve month high of $142.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $101.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.36. The firm has a market cap of $331.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.29, a PEG ratio of 9.78 and a beta of 2.22.

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The chip maker reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $16.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.56 billion. Intel had a positive return on equity of 4.55% and a negative net margin of 20.09%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.23 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Intel will post 1.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Intel news, CEO Lip Bu Tan bought 105,263 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,314,669 shares in the company, valued at $124,893,555. This trade represents a 8.70% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.05% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Intel

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of INTC. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Intel by 36.9% in the 3rd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 6,590 shares of the chip maker’s stock worth $792,000 after purchasing an additional 1,777 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC raised its position in shares of Intel by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 79,903 shares of the chip maker’s stock worth $9,607,000 after acquiring an additional 2,024 shares in the last quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Intel by 23.5% during the 3rd quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC now owns 9,989 shares of the chip maker’s stock worth $1,201,000 after purchasing an additional 1,898 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Intel by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,463,998 shares of the chip maker’s stock worth $169,721,000 after purchasing an additional 202,975 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MFG Investments LLC bought a new stake in Intel during the third quarter valued at about $544,000. Institutional investors own 64.53% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Intel

Here are the key news stories impacting Intel this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Intel exceeded third-quarter expectations, reporting adjusted earnings of $0.52 per share versus a roughly $0.41 consensus estimate. Revenue increased 21% year over year to approximately $16.5 billion. Intel third-quarter earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: Data Center and AI revenue rose 78% to $7.3 billion, while Intel Foundry revenue increased 58% to $6.7 billion. CEO Lip-Bu Tan also highlighted the potential for AI agents to expand the server CPU market. Intel server and AI revenue coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Intel agreed to acquire Israeli quantum software company Classiq Technologies for about $2.3 billion, seeking to build a full-stack quantum-computing business. The deal may provide a long-term growth option but adds to near-term spending and execution demands. Intel Classiq acquisition
• Negative Sentiment: Fourth-quarter guidance was well below Wall Street expectations: revenue is projected at $15 billion-$16 billion, versus approximately $17.1 billion expected, with adjusted earnings of about $0.25 per share versus roughly $0.45 expected. Management said the PC slowdown could persist through at least the first half of 2027. Reuters Intel outlook report
• Negative Sentiment: Memory shortages and higher component prices are making PCs more expensive, while Intel expects client-computing revenue to weaken. A blast at its Israel facility is expected to cause roughly $300 million-$600 million in revenue disruption, adding to manufacturing constraints. Intel PC slowdown and Israel facility report
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts responded with multiple downgrades and price-target reductions, citing weak PC demand, supply bottlenecks, lower margins, heavy foundry investment and the risk that Intel may not generate free cash flow in 2027. The outlook also triggered a broad semiconductor selloff, pressuring AMD, Nvidia, Broadcom and other chip stocks. Analyst reactions to Intel earnings

About Intel

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) is a global semiconductor company that designs and manufactures computing and connectivity products. Its portfolio includes Intel Core processors for personal computers, Xeon processors for data centers and enterprise systems, and products for networking, edge computing, graphics, and artificial intelligence workloads.

Through Intel Foundry, the company also provides semiconductor manufacturing and technology-development services for external customers. Intel develops process technologies, advanced packaging, and other manufacturing capabilities intended to support its own products and third-party chip designs.

Founded in 1968 by Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore, Intel helped establish the modern microprocessor industry and has historically supplied processors for PCs, servers, and other computing systems.