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

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading 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 brokerages have also recently weighed in on INTC. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Intel in a research note on Monday, December 29th. HSBC upgraded Intel from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the company from $26.00 to $50.00 in a report on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Intel in a research note on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of Intel from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Melius Research raised shares of Intel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Four research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Intel has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $44.10.

More 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 Investors Weigh In On Intel

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of INTC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Intel by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 390,829,684 shares of the chip maker’s stock worth $13,112,336,000 after purchasing an additional 4,925,949 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Intel by 1.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 203,617,629 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $4,561,035,000 after buying an additional 3,168,824 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Intel by 1.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 97,563,079 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $2,174,854,000 after buying an additional 1,760,773 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Intel by 32.5% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its holdings in Intel by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 80,298,180 shares of the chip maker’s stock worth $1,798,679,000 after buying an additional 3,313,890 shares during the last quarter. 64.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Intel Trading Down 17.0%

The firm has a market capitalization of $215.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -563.32, a PEG ratio of 28.67 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.60. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $40.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.01.

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The chip maker reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $13.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.37 billion. Intel had a negative net margin of 0.51% and a negative return on equity of 0.46%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.13 EPS. Intel has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.000-0.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Intel Corporation will post -0.11 EPS 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.