NEW YORK, December 30, 2025, 11:30 ET — Regular session
- Intel shares rose about 4% in morning trading, bucking a softer tech backdrop.
- A new filing confirmed Nvidia completed a $5 billion investment agreed in September.
- Traders are also watching Fed minutes later Tuesday in thin year-end volumes.
Intel shares rose 3.8% to $38.08 in morning trade on Tuesday after the chipmaker confirmed Nvidia had completed a $5 billion stock purchase.
The transaction lands as Intel looks to reinforce its finances after years of missteps and capital-intensive production expansions, with the Nvidia investment seen as a key lifeline.
In a Form 8-K — a filing companies use to disclose material events between quarterly reports — Intel said it issued and sold 214,776,632 shares to Nvidia for $5.0 billion in cash, or $23.28 per share, and that the sale closed on Dec. 26.
The sale was structured as a private placement, meaning the shares were sold directly to a single investor rather than through a public offering.
That structure delivers cash quickly, but it also expands Intel’s share count. More shares outstanding can dilute earnings per share — profit divided by shares — if profits do not rise in step.
The backdrop for risk assets remained choppy. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq edged lower in thin holiday trading as investors waited for minutes from the Federal Reserve’s Dec. 9-10 meeting for clues on the pace of rate cuts in 2026. “You may have some repositioning… I wouldn’t try to make too much out of anything that happens in a holiday-shortened week,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley Wealth. Reuters
Nvidia, the dominant supplier of AI accelerators, was lower on the day even as Intel rose, highlighting the stock-specific nature of the move.
Intel’s filing said the transaction relied on a Securities Act exemption for deals not involving a public offering, a common legal route for private share sales.
Investors will now look for any clues on how Intel deploys the $5 billion and whether Nvidia’s equity stake leads to deeper operational ties beyond the investment already announced.
With U.S. markets closed Thursday for New Year’s Day, traders said lighter volumes can amplify moves and make price action harder to read.
Intel ended Monday at $36.68, up 1.3%, and remained about 17% below its $44.02 52-week high set on Dec. 3, according to MarketWatch data.
For the rest of the session, attention will stay on Fed minutes and interest-rate expectations, while Intel investors watch whether Tuesday’s jump holds after the initial reaction to the Nvidia filing fades.
