Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) Trading Down 17% on Analyst Downgrade

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) was down 17% during mid-day trading on Friday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $50.00 to $48.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Intel traded as low as $44.45 and last traded at $45.0710. Approximately 290,580,559 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 96% from the average daily volume of 148,578,359 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.32.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Intel from $41.10 to $45.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Intel from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on Intel from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Intel from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Raymond James Financial began coverage on Intel in a research report on Friday, November 21st. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $44.10.

Key Intel News

Here are the key news stories impacting Intel this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat on headline numbers — Intel exceeded expectations for revenue and EPS (Q4 revenue $13.67B; non‑GAAP EPS $0.15), showing demand traction for AI and PC products. Intel Q4 results
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts raised targets or reiterated support post‑report, citing the long‑term foundry/AI opportunity (examples: Benchmark raised its target and Jefferies nudged its target higher), which underpins the bullish narrative for a multi‑year turnaround. Benchmark price target raise
• Neutral Sentiment: Street reaction is mixed — several firms kept Hold/Neutral ratings while others moved to Buy or Sell; commentary is split between excitement about long‑term AI demand and skepticism about near‑term execution. Analyst reaction roundup
• Negative Sentiment: Weak Q1 guidance was the main trigger — management guided Q1 revenue below consensus ($11.7B–$12.7B vs. ~$12.6B expected) and issued flat/very low EPS guidance, signaling supply will constrain growth in the near term. Reuters: Q1 guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Manufacturing and yield troubles — multiple reports and management comments point to capacity/yield shortfalls that prevent Intel from meeting booming AI/server demand; investors worry margins and inventory dynamics will be pressured. Bloomberg Tech: manufacturing snags
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive and supply‑chain implications — rivals and component makers (AMD, Micron, TSMC-related stories) are seeing relative upside as Intel’s supply issues create share and pricing opportunities for others. MarketWatch: AMD vs Intel

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Intel in the second quarter worth $1,579,378,000. Capital World Investors grew its position in Intel by 32.5% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 86,503,121 shares of the chip maker’s stock worth $2,902,180,000 after buying an additional 21,230,715 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Intel by 210.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 15,498,219 shares of the chip maker’s stock worth $346,230,000 after buying an additional 10,514,007 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Intel by 18.3% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 55,521,741 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $1,862,755,000 after buying an additional 8,569,812 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Intel by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 385,903,735 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $8,644,244,000 after acquiring an additional 8,513,298 shares during the period. 64.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Intel Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $215.30 billion, a PE ratio of -563.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 34.55 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $40.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.95.

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The chip maker reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $13.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.37 billion. Intel had a negative return on equity of 0.46% and a negative net margin of 0.51%.Intel’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.13 EPS. Intel has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.000-0.000 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Intel Corporation will post -0.11 EPS for the current year.

Intel Company Profile

Intel Corporation, founded in 1968 by Robert Noyce and Gordon E. Moore and headquartered in Santa Clara, California, is a leading global designer and manufacturer of semiconductor products. The company is historically notable for introducing the first commercial microprocessor and for driving the x86 architecture that underpins many personal computers and servers. Intel’s core business spans the design, fabrication and marketing of processors, chipsets and related components for a wide range of computing applications.

Intel’s product portfolio includes client and mobile processors marketed under brands such as Intel Core and Pentium, as well as high-performance Xeon processors for data centers and cloud infrastructure.