New York, June 12, 2026, 04:19 EDT
- Intel finished Thursday at $116.96, up 9.27%. The stock was last seen at $116.60 before Friday’s open.
- Bank of America bumped Intel up to Buy from Underperform, moving its price target to $135 from $96.
- Chip stocks shot higher Thursday, with the PHLX Semiconductor Index up 7.9%. The Nasdaq Composite added 2.54%.
Intel Corporation shares jumped Thursday, as analysts showed more confidence in the chipmaker’s AI and foundry plans. INTC had one of its best days with the semiconductor sector rallying. The stock, which trades on the Nasdaq, ended at $116.96, gaining $9.92, or 9.27%, after swinging from $110.51 to $119.44 during the day. In premarket hours early Friday, shares slipped to $116.60.
Bank of America’s rare double upgrade on Intel was the main driver. Analyst Vivek Arya bumped the stock all the way to Buy from Underperform and also boosted the target to $135 from $96. Benzinga reported that Arya said he now has “higher confidence in INTC’s opportunity to help address industry constraints in leading edge wafers/packaging, plus supply into a much larger agentic CPU TAM.” Benzinga
The upgrade came as investors revisited the role of central processing units in AI setups. StreetInsider, using Investing.com data, said Arya bumped up BofA’s 2030 server CPU market estimate to over $170 billion, up from $125 billion. Arya called agentic AI “a powerful demand accelerant that expands the CPU opportunity and lifts both x86 incumbents and ARM challengers.” StreetInsider.com
Intel’s move got a boost as U.S. stocks bounced back hard. The Dow added 1.86%, the S&P 500 picked up 1.75%, and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.54% to 25,809.66. The PHLX Semiconductor Index surged 7.9%, its biggest one-day gain since April 2025, according to Reuters.
Intel shares picked up fresh interest after a report from The Information, cited by Reuters, said Google had made an order for over three million tensor processing units from the chipmaker in 2028. Reuters said it couldn’t confirm the story and noted Intel wouldn’t comment, while Alphabet and Nvidia didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The reported order is watched closely by investors searching for proof that Intel Foundry is landing real outside business against Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Reuters cited eMarketer tech analyst Jacob Bourne, who said the move shows “AI’s biggest players are racing to diversify a supply chain still heavily concentrated in TSMC.” Reuters
Intel has blown past most analyst price targets during the rally. Google Finance lists 39 analysts tracking Intel over the past three months: 11 Buy calls, 26 Hold ratings, 2 Sell. Analysts’ average price target over 12 months was $90.82, which is below where the shares finished on Thursday. The top target was $150.
Intel’s stock traded volatile even after the bullish call. Google Finance showed the shares with a 52-week range of $18.96 to $132.75, with Thursday’s close landing well above the low and still under the high from earlier this year. Market value stood at about $587.84 billion.
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