Intel’s comeback gains traction
Intel’s stock has rallied through a multi‑day winning streak after naming new partnerships and foundry deals, prompting analysts to raise the company’s profile as a credible foundry competitor even though execution risk remains. The market narrative and bullish analyst notes point to growing competition for foundry and package engineering talent in the U.S. tech ecosystem. (cnbc.com, techbuzz.ai, x.com/imnotharsh/status/2043845236808396824)
Intel shares extended a nine-day winning streak on April 13, capping a 56% surge as new foundry and infrastructure deals reset the company’s story. (cnbc.com) The stock’s last winning run that long was in September 2023, and the last longer streak was 13 straight gains in May 2005, according to CNBC. Bloomberg reported the April rally added more than $100 billion in market value. (cnbc.com, bloomberg.com) Two recent announcements drove much of the move. Intel said on April 9 that it expanded its multiyear partnership with Google around Xeon central processing units and custom infrastructure processing units, and reports on April 7 said Intel had joined Elon Musk’s Terafab project as a foundry partner. (newsroom.intel.com, cnbc.com, thenextweb.com) A foundry is a contract chip factory: companies design chips, and the foundry manufactures them. Intel has spent the past several years trying to prove it can do that business for outside customers, not just for its own processors. (newsroom.intel.com, intc.com) That effort has centered on Intel 18A, the company’s latest manufacturing process, and on advanced packaging, which links multiple chip pieces together inside one product. Intel said in 2025 that it had early wafers running on 18A-P, shared an early 14A process design kit with lead customers, and expanded packaging work with Amkor. (intc.com, amkor.com) Intel also gave investors a separate financial signal on April 1, when it agreed to pay $14.2 billion to buy back Apollo’s 49% stake in the Fab 34 joint venture in Ireland. The company said the deal reflected “continued business momentum” and restored full ownership of that plant. (intc.com, newsroom.intel.com) Analysts have raised targets while keeping some caution in place. GuruFocus, citing published analyst notes, said Cantor Fitzgerald lifted its price target to $60 from $45 on April 9 while keeping a neutral rating, and Wells Fargo raised its target to $55 from $45 on April 7. (gurufocus.com) Counterpoint Research analyst Neil Shah said the Terafab deal gives Intel “credibility” in foundry by tying its manufacturing and packaging work to a large outside customer. Reuters separately reported that the Google expansion focuses on central processing units and custom infrastructure chips for artificial intelligence systems rather than only graphics processors. (finance.yahoo.com, msn.com) The rally does not settle the harder question, which is whether Intel can deliver these programs on schedule and at scale. Intel is due to report first-quarter 2026 results on April 23 after the market close, giving investors the next test of whether the comeback story is turning into foundry revenue. (intc.com, cnbc.com)
