New York, February 9, 2026, 08:13 EST — Premarket
- Intel shares hovered around $50.59 in premarket trading, holding steady after climbing 4.9% on Friday.
- Chip stocks slipped as investors digested Big Tech’s AI spending plans and contended with this week’s delayed U.S. data.
- Intel remained in the spotlight, with attention on its reported support for an AI-chip startup’s fundraising and fresh warnings about lengthier server CPU lead times in China.
Intel stock didn’t budge much in early Monday action, sticking close to $50.59 following Friday’s late-session jump of 4.87%. 1
The stock slipped alongside other chip names after Wall Street futures edged lower, with investors unsure if big bets on artificial intelligence will actually boost profits. “The size of the rebound … didn’t feel like the beginning of a sustainable reversal,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, analyst at Swissquote Bank. 2
Intel’s been riding the AI wave lately, but traders haven’t hesitated to pull back when the broader market shifts. Just a hint of higher inflation or a disappointing session for tech is enough to jolt the stock.
Reuters said late Friday that Vista Equity Partners is taking the lead on a $350 million-plus round for AI chip maker SambaNova Systems. Intel is expected to put in around $100 million, maybe up to $150 million. SambaNova is betting on “inference” chips—these are the ones that run AI models after training—as customers look for alternatives to Nvidia, according to the report. 3
According to a Reuters report, Intel and Advanced Micro Devices have told their customers in China to brace for server CPU shortages, with Intel cautioning that delivery times might now run as long as six months. One person familiar said Intel’s server chips are going for “more than 10%” above usual prices in China, although contract terms still differ. 4
Talk of supply issues surfaced following Intel’s late-January forecast, which called for first-quarter sales and profit to come in under Wall Street’s estimates. The company pointed to trouble keeping up with demand for certain server chips powering AI data centers. 5
This week, traders are watching for key U.S. data releases that got delayed during the recent partial government shutdown. The January jobs numbers are now set to come out Feb. 11, and January’s CPI lands Feb. 13, according to Barron’s. 6
Supply constraints work both ways. Limited availability can prop up prices, but missed shipments risk sending customers elsewhere or stalling purchases. And if new U.S.-China tensions flare, that’s another complication—particularly for data-center demand tied to international supply chains.
Next up, traders are zeroing in on Nvidia’s Feb. 25 earnings after the bell — numbers that frequently move sentiment for the whole chip sector, Intel included. 7
