TLDR
- Intel stock opened at $100.32, down 5.6%, after gaining more than 20% over the prior five sessions
- Piper Sandler upgraded INTC to “Hold,” with analyst consensus sitting at “Hold” and a $107.80 average price target
- Intel’s last quarter beat expectations: EPS of $0.42 vs $0.21 expected, revenue of $16.13 billion, up 25.2% year over year
- CEO Lip-Bu Tan bought nearly $10 million worth of INTC stock in August at $95.00 per share
- Virginia Retirement Systems took a new $103.7 million position in Intel in Q2; institutional investors hold 64.53% of the stock
Intel (INTC) stock opened at $100.32 on Wednesday, down 5.6%, as profit-taking kicked in after a sharp rally that saw the stock climb more than 20% over just five sessions.
The pullback came despite a Piper Sandler upgrade to “Hold.” The firm suggested investors may have missed the better entry point following Intel’s run-up.
Mizuho also trimmed its price target to $92, pointing to valuation risk even as server demand and execution have improved. The message from both firms is essentially the same: the recent gains may have gotten ahead of the fundamentals.
The broader analyst picture reflects that caution. Of the analysts covering INTC, 19 have a Buy rating, 28 have a Hold, and three have a Sell.
The consensus price target stands at $107.80. Bank of America maintains a Buy with a $145 target, while Cantor Fitzgerald is Neutral with a $125 target.
Intel’s last earnings report gave the bulls something to work with. The company posted EPS of $0.42 for Q2, doubling the $0.21 consensus estimate. Revenue came in at $16.13 billion, well above the $14.43 billion expected and up 25.2% from the same period last year.
Q3 2026 guidance is set at $0.38 EPS. Analysts expect full-year EPS of $1.04.
CEO Backs the Stock With His Own Money
CEO Lip-Bu Tan put his money where his mouth is. In August, he bought 105,263 INTC at $95.00 per share, a total of just under $10 million. That brought his total holding to 1,314,669 shares, valued at roughly $124.9 million.
Insider purchases at that size tend to get attention. It signals confidence in the company’s direction at a time when outside opinion is mixed.
Virginia Retirement Systems also made a move, picking up 742,744 INTC in Q2 at a total value of around $103.7 million. That makes Intel its 27th-largest holding. ABS Investment Management added an even larger position, worth approximately $694 million during the same period.
Institutional investors now hold 64.53% of Intel stock.
Foundry Progress and Altera IPO in Focus
On the technology side, Intel and ASML are expanding their work on High-NA EUV manufacturing. That supports Intel’s argument that its foundry roadmap is on track.
Intel-backed Altera is reportedly preparing an IPO that could raise more than $2 billion. A successful listing could put a clearer value on Intel’s semiconductor assets.
A partnership with Atsign delivered an 88-fold improvement in encrypted Edge AI performance on Intel hardware. That supports the company’s positioning in edge computing, though no material revenue impact has been reported yet.
Intel’s 50-day moving average sits at $98.21, and the 200-day is at $89.79. The stock’s 12-month range runs from a low of $24.05 to a high of $142.35.
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