NEW YORK, May 17, 2026, 10:05 EDT
- Intel closed out Friday at $108.77, falling 6.2% for the day. The stock is now down almost 13% this week.
- The Philadelphia semiconductor index fell 4% as investors looked at how far the AI-chip trade had gone, pulling back after recent gains.
- Intel heads into a key week with a test at the J.P. Morgan technology conference set for May 19.
Intel shares stayed weak entering the new week, after a big drop on Friday. Investors scaled back bets on chipmakers, which had rallied on optimism that artificial intelligence demand would drive up sales for CPUs, the core chips used in computers and servers.
Nasdaq’s cash market doesn’t open on Sunday. Regular trading is Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern. Extended hours tend to see thinner trading, so prices can move more as buyers and sellers are fewer.
Intel shares finished Friday at $108.77, falling 6.18% for the session. For the week, the stock lost 12.9%, ending below last Friday’s close of $124.92. Shares had traded as high as $132.75 earlier in the week.
Nasdaq, chip stocks dragged down as risk gets repriced: It wasn’t just Intel driving the selloff. On Friday, Reuters said the Nasdaq dropped 1.54% while the Philadelphia semiconductor index shed 4%. Nvidia fell 4.4%. AMD was down 5.7%. Intel gave up 6.2%. Higher oil and Treasury yields pressured growth names. “There’s a realization that the market had gotten way ahead of itself,” Kenny Polcari, chief market strategist at Slatestone Wealth, told Reuters. Reuters
Intel is losing ground in server CPUs. UBS analysts led by Timothy Arcuri say Intel’s market share dropped to 54.9% in the first quarter, down from 64.4% a year ago. AMD jumped to 27.4% while Arm reached 17.7%. Lines are moving, and investors are watching the space as AI ramps up.
Valuation risk is making a return to market talk. UBS HOLT’s Michel Lerner told Barron’s that “markets are running too hot on the AI story.” HOLT looks at measures like cash flow return on investment—tracking how much cash profit firms make from capital investments. Barron’s
Intel posted first-quarter revenue at $13.6 billion, a gain of 7% from the same period last year, and set its second-quarter guidance between $13.8 billion and $14.8 billion. CEO Lip-Bu Tan pointed to “the next wave of AI” driving more need for Intel CPUs and advanced packaging. CFO David Zinsner said the quarter was about demand and execution. Bulls still have numbers to cite. Intel Corporation
The earlier move in the stock was based on that story. Back in April, Reuters reported Intel shares rose more than 24% after its upbeat forecast. Analyst Bob O’Donnell at TECHnalysis Research said Intel’s foundry group still needs to deliver in 2027 if the turnaround is real. The foundry business produces chips for other firms—an area Intel has worked to boost against rivals like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and others.
Intel is also trying to keep focus on new business deals. The company said Thursday it signed a multi-year agreement to be the official compute partner for McLaren Racing. Intel Xeon and Core Ultra chips will be used for simulation, race strategy analytics and other tasks that need fast processing. Intel did not say how much the deal is worth.
Intel’s next slot on the investor calendar comes up soon. The company is set for a J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media and Communications Conference slot on May 19 at 9:55 a.m. PDT, according to the investor-relations website. That appearance puts management in a position to talk about demand, supply, and the ongoing server-share questions before the market shifts focus.
But the risk is obvious. Higher oil and yields could keep chip stocks like AMD and Arm pinned, especially if they keep grabbing server share. That would make Intel’s AI pitch look a lot less like a recovery and more like a shaky turnaround. Intel has already told investors that competition, delays, big factory spending and unknowns in AI demand could cause it to miss its targets.
Monday’s open is set to test whether buyers are still behind the AI CPU trade. A bounce would signal dip-buyers haven’t backed off. If stocks drop again, the market may be waiting for more than just the next big pitch.
