NEW YORK, March 27, 2026, 10:08 EDT
Intel slipped 1.2% to $43.58 early Friday, hovering just shy of $44. The stock kicked off at $43.66 and swung between $43.28 and $44.61.
Why does this matter? Investors are looking for clear signs that Intel’s turnaround isn’t just talk—it’s about actual products landing in customers’ hands. On Wednesday, Intel introduced Core Ultra Series 3 business chips based on its 18A manufacturing process, the company’s most advanced to date, plus new Arc Pro graphics cards. The company said commercial systems featuring the new chips are set to ship starting March 31. “The most expansive and capable commercial portfolio Intel has ever delivered,” is how David Feng, vice president in Intel’s client computing group, described the launch. Newsroom
The launch jolted CPU stocks into a quick rally. Arm projected its AGI CPU could haul in around $15 billion a year within five years, sending its shares jumping 20% Wednesday. Intel and AMD weren’t left out, each climbing more than 5%. Citigroup analysts pointed to the growing push for “agentic AI”—software able to handle multi-step tasks with little user input—as fueling heavier CPU demand. Reuters
The mood flipped the following day. Nasdaq dropped 2.4% on Thursday, officially entering correction territory—a 10% slide from its last high—as investors grew uneasy about the Iran war, oil-driven inflation, and the uncertain timeline for big AI investments to show returns. “This back-and-forth movement is enough to make people seasick,” said Jim Carroll, senior wealth adviser and portfolio manager at Ballast Rock Private Wealth. Reuters
So, Intel lands right back where it’s been before. In January, the chipmaker guided for first-quarter revenue between $11.7 billion and $12.7 billion—coming up short of what Wall Street had penciled in—and flagged ongoing trouble keeping up with demand for its server chips, which pair with Nvidia’s AI processors. “We’re not able to fully meet the demand in our markets,” Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan conceded. Investor Michael Schulman called the situation a “supply-constrained rather than demand-constrained” rebound. Reuters
Pricing has felt the squeeze from tight supply as well. Back in February, sources familiar with the bottlenecks said Intel and AMD notified Chinese buyers about looming server CPU shortages. Some Intel chips were seeing lead times as long as six months, and prices for Intel server products in China had climbed over 10% across the board. Intel attributed the crunch to surging demand from rapid AI adoption, which, the company said, was boosting “traditional compute.” Reuters
But the upside comes with caveats. Intel’s grip on the PC market has slipped as AMD and Arm chipmakers chip away at its share. UBS flagged in January that pricier memory could put a lid on PC demand. Intel maintains that 18A yields—the percentage of usable chips per wafer—are getting better with each month. Still, just a fraction of the early 18A chips made the grade for customers, earlier reports show.
The financial base tells part of the story. Intel pulled in $52.85 billion in revenue for 2025, but Reuters data show a net loss of $267 million. The shares continue to trade as if the turnaround isn’t quite locked in yet — investors are still waiting for more convincing evidence that Intel’s fresh lineup and stricter supply discipline will translate into reliable profits.
