Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $50.00 to $48.00. The stock had previously closed at $54.32, but opened at $46.86. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Intel shares last traded at $45.52, with a volume of 74,111,510 shares trading hands.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on INTC. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Intel from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Loop Capital lifted their target price on Intel from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Intel in a report on Friday. Northland Securities set a $54.00 price objective on Intel in a research note on Friday. Finally, Mizuho set a $48.00 target price on Intel in a research report on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Intel currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price 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 Trading of Intel

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Legacy Bridge LLC bought a new position in shares of Intel during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Intel during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Corundum Trust Company INC bought a new position in Intel in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Intel by 89.2% in the third quarter. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 946 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the period. Finally, GoalVest Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Intel in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 64.53% of the company’s stock.

Intel Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $40.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.01. The company has a market cap of $215.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -563.32, a PEG ratio of 28.67 and a beta of 1.35.

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The chip maker reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $13.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.37 billion. Intel had a negative return on equity of 0.46% and a negative net margin of 0.51%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.13 earnings per share. Intel has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.000-0.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Intel Corporation will post -0.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Intel

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.