New York, February 3, 2026, 10:56 AM EST — Regular session
- Intel shares climbed roughly 2.6% by late morning, touching a 52-week peak for a short time.
- SoftBank Corp.’s SAIMEMORY Corp. has struck a deal with Intel to develop next-generation “Z-Angle Memory” designed for AI workloads.
- A Form 144 filing revealed an Intel insider intends to offload a modest number of shares, as traders braced for chip-sector earnings due Tuesday.
Intel (INTC) shares climbed roughly 2.6% Tuesday, pushing past the $50 mark as investors reacted to a SoftBank-linked partnership focused on next-gen memory tech for AI. The stock hit a 52-week high of $51.46 earlier before settling around $50.07 in late morning trading.
This shift is significant since Intel’s stock has been swayed more by headlines than by immediate PC sales. The real question is whether the company can regain ground in data centers and AI infrastructure. As memory and power constraints tighten for large AI systems, fresh strategies—no matter how early—could draw investment back to the stock.
This isn’t a quick revenue play. Still, it underscores that the AI boom isn’t solely driven by graphics chips and CPUs; memory bandwidth and power consumption often set the pace. Investors have been eager to pay premiums for anything promising to ease those constraints.
SoftBank Corp announced that its fully owned unit SAIMEMORY inked a collaboration deal with Intel on February 2 to push forward the commercialization of “Z-Angle Memory” (ZAM). The technology is touted as high-capacity, high-bandwidth, and low-power. The two companies plan to deliver prototypes by the fiscal year ending March 31, 2028, with commercial rollout targeted for fiscal 2029. (ソフトバンク)
Put simply, the project focuses on DRAM — the primary working memory in computers and servers — but stacked and packaged in a new way to boost data flow while cutting power use. This is crucial for data centers, where handling large AI models often hits a memory throughput bottleneck.
“Standard memory architectures aren’t meeting AI needs,” said Dr. Joshua Fryman, an Intel fellow and CTO of Intel Government Technologies, in remarks reported by Converge Digest. (Converge Digest)
Intel unveiled new product news this week as well. On Monday, the company introduced Intel Xeon 600 processors designed for workstations, with availability set through OEMs and system integrator partners starting in late March 2026. (Newsroom)
In another development, a Form 144 filing revealed that an Intel insider intends to sell as many as 20,000 shares, valued at roughly $980,822, according to a summary linked to the SEC EDGAR database. It’s important to note that a Form 144 only signals a planned sale under SEC Rule 144—it doesn’t confirm the sale will actually happen. (Stock Titan)
Yet the core challenges remain unchanged: execution and supply. In late January, Intel admitted it was falling short on meeting demand for server chips powering AI data centers, projecting first-quarter sales and profits below Wall Street’s expectations. “Intel’s turnaround story remains supply-constrained rather than demand-constrained,” noted Michael Schulman of Running Point Capital. (Reuters)
Macro factors continue to loom. The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced the January U.S. employment report will be postponed because of the partial government shutdown. It will be published once government funding is restored. (Reuters)
Next on the radar: Advanced Micro Devices, set to release its earnings after Tuesday’s close. In a market sharply focused on AI investments and data-center growth, AMD’s report could shake up the entire sector — Intel among those likely to feel the impact. (Investopedia)
