New York, February 4, 2026, 09:17 (EST) — Premarket
- Intel shares gained roughly 1% in premarket action, trading close to $50.
- CEO Lip-Bu Tan revealed Intel’s intention to develop GPUs tailored for data centers and spotlighted a crucial new hire driving that push.
- Big Tech earnings and fresh details on delayed U.S. labor-market data are drawing traders’ attention.
Intel shares edged up 0.9% to $49.25 in premarket action Wednesday. The stock hovered around the $50 mark before the opening bell.
The move is significant since GPUs — graphics processing units, the chips powering many AI models — now dominate the data-center arms race. Nvidia has built a massive business around this, prompting investors to swiftly revalue any company that seems poised to gain or lose market share.
Intel aims to prove it can juggle two tough goals at once: boosting chip sales in servers and stepping up as a contract manufacturer for other designers. New chatter about products and clients tends to move the stock quickly, especially with tech markets still volatile.
Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan confirmed the company is moving into GPUs, bringing on Qualcomm’s Eric Demmers as chief GPU architect. “I just hired the chief GPU architect,” Tan said, linking the project to the data center business where Intel aims to challenge Nvidia. He also mentioned “a couple of customers” actively working with Intel Foundry, the firm’s contract manufacturing division, highlighting strong interest in its 14A process. Volume production is expected to ramp up later this year. Reuters
The broader market hasn’t been steady. Software and cloud shares slipped over the past few sessions amid concerns that rapidly evolving AI tools might upend existing business models. Still, solid earnings elsewhere have kept the market from faltering. “Strong earnings support the market’s valuations,” said Sean Clark, chief investment officer at Clark Capital. Reuters
Traders grappled with a weaker-than-anticipated private payrolls report on the macro front. ADP showed U.S. private employment increased by just 22,000 in January. Last week, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell noted that “labor market indicators suggest that conditions may be stabilizing.” Meanwhile, the government is set to announce the release date for delayed official jobs data, pushed back by a brief shutdown. Reuters
Intel’s push comes with clear risks. Launching a data-center GPU business isn’t just about delivering chips; customers also demand a robust software ecosystem and tend to stick with existing suppliers. On the foundry front, Intel has to lock in volume commitments before expanding capacity, and those deals aren’t always guaranteed to hold.
During the regular session, investors will see if Intel can maintain its premarket gains while Alphabet reports after the close, with Amazon set to follow on Thursday. Updates on the timing of delayed U.S. labor-market releases could also shake rate-sensitive tech and chip stocks.
