New York, May 24, 2026, 10:03 EDT
Intel shares are heading into a long U.S. market break after jumping last week. The stock finished Friday at $119.84, up 1.13% for the day and about 10% above the prior Friday’s close. Last week saw a rough start Monday, a big 7.36% surge midweek, and a moderate bump on Friday.
Timing is key. Intel trades on Nasdaq, which is closed Monday for Memorial Day and does not open over the weekend. That leaves Tuesday’s open as the next regular U.S. session for pricing new chip news or any risk shifts. Nasdaq regular session is 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern.
The key for investors now is if they believe in an Intel turnaround or if they’re just looking for another AI play. CPUs, or central processing units, run servers and PCs. These chips are getting more attention again as AI systems go from training big models to use in real-world jobs.
Nvidia picked up another peer signal this weekend. Reuters said Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said Saturday that his $200 billion CPU market forecast counts China. That shows both Nvidia and AMD still see room in a part of the market where Intel used to dominate.
Intel is leaning on supply and execution. The company said last month first-quarter revenue climbed 7% to $13.6 billion and put its second-quarter revenue guide at $13.8 billion to $14.8 billion. Non-GAAP profit, which excludes some items, beat its own forecast.
CEO Lip-Bu Tan told investors that “demand continues to run ahead of supply,” focusing on Xeon server CPUs. He said the CPU was “reasserting itself” in the AI stack. CFO Dave Zinsner said AI-driven lines made up 60% of Intel’s revenue, up 40% from a year ago. Cloudfront
Wall Street analysts have started moving up their targets on Intel, but there’s little agreement. Barron’s said last week Citi’s Atif Malik bumped his price target on Intel to $130, up from $95. Benchmark’s Cody Acree also raised his target, now at $140 versus $105 before. Seaport analyst Jay Goldberg told Barron’s he sees Intel with more upside to grow into its valuation following the rally.
Caution is still there. “No company in history has ever fallen off the Moore’s law curve and made it back on,” Goldberg told Reuters earlier this month. He was talking about the long-held belief that chips get faster and cheaper as time goes on. Reuters pointed out that Intel’s stock price had almost quintupled after Tan took over, but said the company’s foundry plan is still costly and hasn’t been proven. Reuters
Intel’s foundry business—building chips for other designers—is key to its story right now. The company reported external foundry revenue of $174 million for the first quarter of 2026, the quarterly filing shows, and said the Intel Foundry segment recorded a $2.44 billion operating loss.
Dow Jones Industrial Average set a new intraday record Friday, Reuters said, helped by strong trading in AI names and hope for progress in Iran war talks. Markets got a boost as risk appetite picked up. Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley Wealth, said investors were moving “towards that off-ramp” and markets were showing more “confidence.” Reuters
Still, the bear case is direct. Intel needs to convert tight demand into steady, profitable production. Its latest 10-Q says if it can’t lock in enough demand for Intel 14A, it might pause or scrap that node and future top-tier manufacturing work. The filing also points to risks from tariffs, export rules, Middle East conflict and China-Taiwan tension.
Nasdaq’s shut on Monday, making for a short, choppy week. Traders come back Tuesday eyeing if Intel keeps last week’s gains, if Nvidia’s CPU talk draws more focus to the battle between giants, and if rates or headlines out of geopolitics slow semis. Intel isn’t slated to speak again until the BofA Global Technology Conference on June 2, according to its investor calendar, so without fresh news, sector chatter could move the stock more than anything out of Intel itself.
