Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) Stock Moved Up to Strong-Buy by Zacks Research

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, Zacks reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on INTC. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Intel from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Friday. Pivotal Research began coverage on Intel in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Intel in a research note on Sunday. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Intel from $75.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, National Bank Financial set a $85.00 price target on Intel in a report on Monday, October 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Intel presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $108.23.

Intel Stock Up 3.6%

Shares of INTC stock opened at $93.74 on Monday. Intel has a 52 week low of $32.89 and a 52 week high of $142.35. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $101.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Lip Bu Tan acquired 105,263 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $95.00 per share, for a total transaction of $9,999,985.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,314,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $124,893,555. This trade represents a 8.70% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intel

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Intel by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 216,849,675 shares of the chip maker’s stock worth $30,278,720,000 after buying an additional 2,528,657 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA acquired a new stake in Intel in the second quarter valued at about $10,507,291,000. Amundi boosted its stake in Intel by 14.9% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 38,969,192 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $1,719,710,000 after buying an additional 5,045,936 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Intel by 35.7% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 31,724,362 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $4,429,673,000 after buying an additional 8,342,514 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Intel by 0.4% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 30,700,929 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $1,354,832,000 after acquiring an additional 112,054 shares during the last quarter. 64.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Intel News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Intel this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Intel agreed to acquire Israeli quantum-software company Classiq for approximately $2.3 billion, aiming to build a full-stack quantum-computing platform. The deal strengthens Intel’s longer-term positioning in a new growth market, although it also adds execution and investment risk. Intel to buy quantum firm Classiq
• Positive Sentiment: New Street Research upgraded Intel to Buy with a reported $125 target, citing a shortage of server CPUs and improving demand. Wedbush maintained Neutral but raised its target to $98, describing the setup ahead of earnings as balanced with server performance the key issue.
• Positive Sentiment: Several earnings previews point to stronger data-center revenue, AI infrastructure demand, Xeon processor sales, and possible pricing benefits from constrained server-CPU supply. Investors are looking for evidence that server strength can offset weaker PC demand and support margins. Intel Q3 earnings preview
• Positive Sentiment: Intel’s Crescent Island GPU D-series and Xeon-based rack designs target memory-intensive agentic-AI inference, offering a potential avenue for growth beyond traditional CPUs. The company is also benefiting from broader semiconductor-sector momentum and optimism surrounding its turnaround.
• Neutral Sentiment: Intel, along with IBM, Oracle and IonQ, objected to having its shares listed in tokenized form on the proposed OKX-ICE exchange. The move has limited direct financial impact but signals that major issuers want greater control over how their shares are traded. Companies object to tokenized stocks
• Negative Sentiment: Rosenblatt reaffirmed its Sell rating and assigned an $80 price target, well below prevailing levels. The bearish view underscores concerns about Intel’s valuation, profitability, and the difficulty of executing its costly foundry turnaround.
• Negative Sentiment: Nvidia’s emerging Vera CPU business is already shipping to hyperscalers, creating a new competitive threat to Intel in data-center processors. Investors also face elevated volatility, with options markets implying a large move around Thursday’s earnings report.

About Intel

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) is a global semiconductor company that designs and manufactures computing and connectivity products. Its portfolio includes Intel Core processors for personal computers, Xeon processors for data centers and enterprise systems, and products for networking, edge computing, graphics, and artificial intelligence workloads.

Through Intel Foundry, the company also provides semiconductor manufacturing and technology-development services for external customers. Intel develops process technologies, advanced packaging, and other manufacturing capabilities intended to support its own products and third-party chip designs.

Founded in 1968 by Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore, Intel helped establish the modern microprocessor industry and has historically supplied processors for PCs, servers, and other computing systems.