Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) Stock

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) had its price objective raised by Morgan Stanley from $38.00 to $41.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the chip maker’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential downside of 9.03% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Intel from $30.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Intel from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Intel from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Intel from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Intel in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $44.10.

Intel Stock Performance

Shares of INTC stock opened at $45.07 on Friday. Intel has a 12 month low of $17.67 and a 12 month high of $54.60. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.01. The firm has a market cap of $215.30 billion, a PE ratio of -563.32, a P/E/G ratio of 28.67 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) last issued its quarterly 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. Intel had a negative net margin of 0.51% and a negative return on equity of 0.46%. The firm had revenue of $13.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.13 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Intel has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.000-0.000 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Intel will post -0.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intel

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

Key Stories Impacting Intel

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

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.