To The Moon

While some investors stayed on the sidelines during the recent market lull, others seized the moment — and Intel just delivered one of the most surprising comebacks of the season. $Intel(INTC)$

🏆 Check out these insane gains from Tigers:

• @Bustylibra — locked in +3298% on Intel

On January 13, KeyBanc raised its rating on Intel to Overweight, setting a price target of $60 — more than 35% upside at the time. That same day, the stock surged 7%.

The catalyst? Intel’s long-awaited breakthrough in advanced chip manufacturing. The company’s 18A process finally entered mass production, with yield rates exceeding 60%. That’s enough to support large-scale output for its Core Ultra 3 chips — and to position Intel as a serious competitor to TSMC and Samsung in global foundry services.

Even more promising: AWS, Meta, and Google are already testing Intel’s EMIB-T packaging for AI chips. This signals that Intel is becoming a full-stack player — not just building chips, but also packaging them at scale.

KeyBanc’s analyst John Vinh noted that demand is so strong, Intel’s next-gen server CPUs — slated for 2026 — are almost entirely pre-ordered. With this momentum, Intel may raise prices on its server chips by 10%–15%, boosting both top-line growth and profit margins.

What Comes After GPUs?

While 2024 and 2025 are dominated by GPU demand, 2026 may become the year CPUs shine again. AI inference workloads increasingly rely on data orchestration and preprocessing, both of which are CPU-intensive tasks. That shift could revive investor focus on traditional compute — right as Intel hits its stride.

The Lip-Bu Tan Effect

A key force behind Intel’s transformation is its new CEO, Lip-Bu Tan. He’s streamlined operations, cut costs, and personally bought $25 million worth of Intel shares — a strong vote of confidence.

Meanwhile, U.S. government policy is moving firmly in Intel’s favor. From blocking Chinese acquisitions of chip assets to investing heavily in domestic AI and semiconductor ecosystems, Washington wants a “controlled, secure foundry.” Intel is now front and center in that effort.

Still Cheap?

Some analysts argue that Intel remains undervalued. A sum-of-the-parts breakdown suggests its foundry business alone could be worth up to $500 billion, with the CPU segment valued at $180B–$240B. That puts the company’s fair value potentially near $700 billion, compared to its current ~$200B market cap.

Of course, risks remain — from delivery execution to maintaining production yields. But one thing is clear: this isn’t the same Intel from 2022.

👉 What’s your take? Can Intel deliver a full comeback — or is the market getting ahead of itself?

💬 Drop your position or watchlist below. $Intel(INTC)$

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