New York, Jan 21, 2026, 12:42 PM ET — Regular session
- Intel shares climbed roughly 10% by midday, with investors gearing up for Thursday’s earnings report.
- Upgrades from Seaport and HSBC this week helped drive the stock to multi-year highs.
- Attention centers on guidance, server-chip demand driven by AI expansion, and Intel’s foundry advancements.
Intel Corporation shares surged roughly 10% by midday Wednesday, pushing the stock further into one of the top-performing large-cap U.S. chip sectors for the month. The rally shows no signs of slowing.
Intel is set to release its quarterly results after Thursday’s close, and the stakes are high. Investors want to see evidence that the turnaround the company has touted is actually driving steadier demand and improving margins.
The tape is jittery for hardware stocks, as some investors remain cautious about corporate spending and rising component costs, despite gains in the chip sector.
Upgrades are driving the rally. Seaport boosted Intel to Buy from Neutral, setting a $65 price target. HSBC also raised its rating to Hold from Reduce and nearly doubled its price target to $50 from $26, citing stronger server CPU demand linked to “agentic AI” — software that autonomously handles tasks but still relies on general-purpose processors. (Source: https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/intel-stock-upgraded-on-pc-recovery-and-ai-server-demand-4455477)
Intel’s recent surge rests on a wager that rapid data-center expansions are reigniting demand for its core server chips. Investors are also pinning hopes on CEO Lip-Bu Tan’s manufacturing and management shake-ups finally gaining traction.
“It’s the most optimistic, I think, people have felt about the company in a long time; the near-term dynamic’s set up very well,” Ryuta Makino, an analyst at Intel investor Gabelli Funds, told Reuters.
Traders expect a sharp move ahead. Options pricing suggests roughly an 8% swing, up or down, by week’s end once the report drops, per Investopedia’s analysis.
Morgan Stanley cut its rating on the U.S. IT hardware sector Tuesday, pointing to sluggish demand and rising input costs. The downgrade weighed on several PC and server stocks, even as Intel continued to make gains.
Intel faces a test on Thursday as Wall Street zeroes in on its server CPU updates, the PC cycle outlook, and pricing strategies. Investors will also look for signs that the foundry unit can attract more external clients for its contract chipmaking services.
There’s a risk factor here as well. Intel reports that yields—the portion of usable chips per silicon wafer—are getting better on its “18A” process. Still, investors stay wary of any signs that production isn’t advancing as fast as hoped, a scenario that could weigh on gross margins and prolong losses at the foundry.
Competition remains fierce. Intel continues to lose ground to AMD in both PCs and servers, while Nvidia’s grip on data-center graphics processors is influencing system designs — and limiting the value Intel can extract from those setups.
Intel will report its fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results after the U.S. market closes on Thursday. The company has scheduled its earnings call for 2 p.m. PT.
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