NEW YORK, Jan 7, 2026, 09:17 EST — Premarket
- Intel shares were little changed in premarket trade after ending Tuesday up 1.7% at $40.04.
- CES headlines put Intel’s first 18A-built laptop chips at the center of its turnaround pitch.
- Traders are watching early laptop launches later this month and Intel’s next results, with earnings calendars listing Jan. 29 after the close.
Intel Corp shares were little changed in U.S. premarket trading on Wednesday, a day after they rose 1.7% to close at $40.04.
The pause comes as investors sort through Intel’s CES message: the company says its next laptop chips are finally built on its new “18A” manufacturing process, a key step in its bid to claw back share in PCs and build credibility as a contract chipmaker.
That matters now because 18A is not just another node on a road map. It is the proof point for whether Intel can make leading-edge chips at scale again — and keep more of its own products off rival foundries.
At the CES show in Las Vegas on Monday, Intel launched Panther Lake, its new laptop chip, as the first high-volume product made using its 18A process. Jim Johnson, who runs Intel’s PC group, described a new transistor design and power delivery tied to 18A, plus a separate graphics “chiplet” — a small die paired with others to build the processor — and Intel said the chips should deliver 60% better performance than the prior Lunar Lake Series 2. CEO Lip-Bu Tan told the event Intel had shipped its first 18A products in 2025, as AMD and Nvidia pushed their own AI chip plans at the show.
Intel has told investors the Core Ultra Series 3 lineup will power more than 200 PC designs, with pre-orders for the first consumer laptops starting Jan. 6 and systems available globally starting Jan. 27. “With Series 3, we are laser-focused on improving power efficiency,” Johnson said in a company release. Intel Corporation
The stock also got a lift earlier this week after Melius Research upgraded Intel to “buy” from “hold” and set a $50 price target, MarketBeat reported. Intel traded as high as $40.31 in Tuesday’s session, the report said.
For traders, the near-term question is whether the CES launch turns into shipped systems and a cleaner ramp — not just demos. A lot of Intel’s comeback story still hinges on whether 18A can become something outsiders pay to use, not merely a factory tool for Intel’s own chips.
But the ramp is still a risk trade. If production issues flare up, or customer interest stays thin, the stock’s “show me” moment could arrive fast.
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