Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) Reaches New 1-Year High After Strong Earnings

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $83.62 and last traded at $83.5050, with a volume of 24876217 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $66.78.

The chip maker reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $13.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.32 billion. Intel had a negative net margin of 5.90% and a positive return on equity of 0.40%. The business’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.13 EPS. Intel has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.200-0.200 EPS.

Intel News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Intel this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 beat and raised guidance — Intel reported revenue and EPS above Street forecasts and gave Q2 revenue guidance well above consensus, a direct catalyst for the rally. Intel forecasts second-quarter revenue above estimates (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: AI/data-center demand is driving durable revenue growth — Management cited “unprecedented” CPU demand for AI workloads and expanding data-center sales, which improves near-term revenue visibility and margins. Unprecedented demand has Intel stock soaring (Investopedia)
• Positive Sentiment: Tesla/14A foundry momentum — Tesla signaled it will use Intel’s 14A process for its Terafab AI chips, validating Intel’s foundry progress and adding a high‑profile customer to the pipeline. Elon Musk lays out Terafab AI chip project plan (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street re-rates the story — Multiple firms raised price targets and upgraded ratings after the quarter, adding buying pressure and supporting higher valuation expectations. Citi and Evercore pile into Intel with huge price target hikes (247WallSt)
• Neutral Sentiment: Corporate governance update — Intel’s CFO (Dave Zinsner) has taken on the principal accounting officer role in addition to CFO duties; this is an internal organization change investors should note but it’s not an immediate financial catalyst. Intel CFO assumes additional role as principal accounting officer (TipRanks)
• Neutral Sentiment: Short interest ticked up — Short interest rose ~20.9% in mid‑April to ~144M shares (≈2.9% of float); the short‑interest ratio remains low (~1.2 days), so it’s a data point on positioning rather than an immediate squeeze signal.
• Negative Sentiment: Profit-taking/valuation risk — After a massive rally and fresh all‑time highs, analysts and market commentators caution the move may be stretched and vulnerable to a pullback; several firms still carry neutral/underperform views despite higher targets. Intel is breaking 2000s high: time to be careful (MarketBeat)

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Intel from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Melius Research set a $75.00 price target on shares of Intel in a report on Friday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Intel from $35.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Intel from $48.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Intel in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Boise April Miller sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.05, for a total transaction of $981,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 113,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,545,593. This trade represents a 15.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David Zinsner acquired 5,882 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $42.50 per share, with a total value of $249,985.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 247,392 shares in the company, valued at $10,514,160. This trade represents a 2.44% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intel

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co raised its holdings in shares of Intel by 33.3% in the 3rd quarter. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co now owns 120,000 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $4,026,000 after purchasing an additional 30,000 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Intel by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 55,521,741 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $1,862,755,000 after purchasing an additional 8,569,812 shares in the last quarter. Katamaran Capital LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Intel in the 3rd quarter valued at $349,000. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its holdings in shares of Intel by 84.7% in the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 56,490 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 25,901 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Intel by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 11,662,576 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $430,349,000 after purchasing an additional 759,951 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.53% of the company’s stock.

Intel Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $51.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $411.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -132.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 14.78 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

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.