New York, Jan 9, 2026, 11:16 EST — Regular session
Intel shares rose about 6% on Friday, lifting the stock toward its best levels of the week, after fresh attention on the chipmaker followed President Donald Trump’s comments about a meeting with CEO Lip-Bu Tan. The shares were up 6.1% at $43.62 in late-morning trade.
The move matters because Intel’s stock has turned into a fast read on whether the company can prove it is back on track in manufacturing — the hard part of its turnaround — at a time when U.S. industrial policy and big capital spending are back in the frame.
Investors also have a fixed date on the calendar now. Intel said it will report fourth-quarter and full-year results on Jan. 22, after the market close, with an earnings call set for 2 p.m. PT (5 p.m. ET). 1
Wall Street’s main indexes edged higher after a weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs report kept bets on rate cuts alive, and Intel got an extra push after Trump said he had a “great meeting” with Tan. “However, the picture remains far from clear,” Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management, said of the labour data. 2
On the company side, Intel has been leaning hard into its CES messaging around new laptop chips. In a Jan. 8 post tied to the show, Intel said it launched its Core Ultra Series 3 processors and lined up more than 200 laptop designs, with pre-orders starting this week; one early customer, Positivo Tecnologia, called the rollout “a new chapter in technology together.” 3
Intel says the first Series 3 laptops go on sale on Jan. 27. The chips are built on Intel’s “18A” process — a manufacturing “node,” or technology generation — that investors see as a key test of whether Intel can close the gap with top foundries and keep more advanced production in-house. 4
Semiconductors broadly were firmer, with the iShares Semiconductor ETF up about 2.4%, while Nvidia was little changed and AMD was up nearly 0.8%.
But the bid in Intel can turn quickly. Any stumble in the 18A ramp, weaker PC demand than expected, or a cautious tone on margins and spending could test how much optimism is already in the price, especially after a sharp run in a stock that has been headline-driven.
Next up for the market is a run of macro tests, including U.S. CPI for December due Jan. 13 and the Federal Reserve’s Jan. 27–28 policy meeting. For Intel, the hard catalyst is still Jan. 22 — results, guidance and whatever Tan says about execution. 5
