By Rashika Singh
(Reuters) -Intel shares surged as a lot as 7.8% in early buying and selling on Friday, hitting an 18-month excessive, as buyers rallied behind CEO Lip-Bu Tan’s aggressive cost-cutting measures that helped the chipmaker surpass quarterly revenue estimates and regain stability amid a flurry of high-stakes bets on future progress.
The outcomes mark a turning level for Intel, which has struggled to keep up relevance within the face of fierce competitors and manufacturing setbacks.
After a bruising 2024 that noticed its first annual loss in practically 4 many years, the corporate is now leaning on strategic investments and operational self-discipline to rebuild investor confidence.
STEADYING THE SHIP
Intel additionally drew help in the course of the quarter from multi-billion-dollar investments by Nvidia and Japan’s SoftBank in addition to a U.S. authorities stake, strikes that provided a monetary cushion as it really works to revive progress.
These investments, together with Tan’s turnaround efforts, have provided a lifeline to the inventory, which has rebounded by greater than 90% in 2025, by means of final shut, outperforming AI chip leaders Nvidia and AMD. Intel trades at a 12-month ahead price-to-earnings ratio of 71.51 versus 30.49 for Nvidia and 40.14 for AMD.
“Intel has turned a nook and is steadying the ship,” mentioned Ben Bajarin, CEO of Inventive Methods. “It appears like a powerful setup for 2026.”
Intel shares have been final up practically 2% in morning buying and selling.
TURNAROUND FAR FROM OVER
Intel mentioned demand for its chips was outpacing provide, significantly in information facilities the place operators are upgrading central processing models (CPUs) to help AI workloads.
Nonetheless, finance chief Dave Zinsner cautioned that yields for its superior 18A manufacturing course of will stay under business requirements and will not attain “acceptable ranges” till 2027.
Tan has additionally bought a majority stake in Altera and shifted Intel’s capital technique to rely extra on exterior commitments, following criticism of his predecessor’s spending-heavy method. He has pared again Intel’s manufacturing ambitions and reduce over 20% of the workforce.
“We perceive the will to say victory for the embattled firm, however this struggle is much from over; maybe it is higher to name it a draw for now,” analysts at Bernstein mentioned.
(Reporting by Rashika Singh and Arsheeya Bajwa in Bengaluru; further reporting by Alun John in London; Modifying by Joice Alves and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
