NEW YORK, Jan 13, 2026, 11:07 EST
- Shares of Intel jumped roughly 6% following an upgrade from KeyBanc, which set a new target price of $60
- AMD gained roughly 5% following the analyst call, as traders jumped on signs of rising server demand
- A recent filing revealed Yelin Lapidot slashed its Intel stake by over 75% in the third quarter
Intel shares climbed 5.9% to $46.64 by 11:07 a.m. EST Tuesday, on roughly 69 million shares traded. Advanced Micro Devices also jumped, up 5.0% in early trading.
Intel’s surge is significant because its strong start to the year has morphed into a showdown between optimism over “AI spillover” and lingering doubts about its execution. Server demand linked to AI investments has emerged as a key measure, with traders scrutinizing each data point as a verdict on the company’s prospects.
KeyBanc’s John Vinh raised Intel to “Overweight” from “Sector Weight,” upping his price target to $60. The move suggests Intel will outperform its sector rivals. He highlighted cloud data, noting a 12% month-over-month rise in Granite Rapids instances to 1,933, largely due to Amazon Web Services deployments. Benzinga
Intel’s stock dropped 3.3% to roughly $44.06 by midday Monday, MarketBeat reported, despite gains in the wider market. The site also shows Intel carries a “Reduce” rating from analysts, who set the average price target at $35.88. MarketBeat
Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd slashed its Intel stake by 76.3% in the third quarter, offloading 60,000 shares. By the end of the period, it held just 18,650 shares, worth roughly $626,000, per an SEC filing noted by MarketBeat.
Intel and AMD go head-to-head in the server CPU market, with Nvidia holding firm as the top player in AI accelerators that often work alongside those chips in data centers. This setup explains why “AI server demand” can move several chip stocks simultaneously, despite their products varying widely.
Other analysts remain cautious. TradingView highlighted Truist Securities’ William Stein, who cut his 2026 EPS estimate to 64 cents from 79 cents, setting a $39 price target due to anticipated capacity constraints. (EPS refers to profit per share.) Wedbush also weighed in, warning that softer PC build forecasts could weigh on Intel, given PCs make up roughly 60% of its revenue.
Intel plans to release its fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results on Jan. 22, after the market closes. The company will hold an earnings call that same day, it said.
The rally might hit bumps ahead. Cloud “instance” counts can fluctuate wildly month to month and don’t always map neatly onto revenue or margins. That’s especially true if pricing shifts or supply squeezes occur in key areas.
A quick dive into earnings will ramp up pressure on guidance — and on any indication that the data-center rebound is widespread, not just a few deployments painting a rosy picture on the charts.
