Intel shareholders are optimistic about the company’s results like they have not been for many quarters, betting the turnaround CEO Lip-Bu Tan promised was taking root and that rapid data center build outs were fueling strong demand for its traditional server chips.
A slew of high-profile investments engineered by Tan last year piqued investor interest in a stock that had crashed in 2024 following years of management missteps, including a botched AI product roadmap that led to deep competitive losses and thousands of job cuts. Intel’s stock gained 84% in 2025, far outperforming the benchmark semiconductor index’s 42% rise. A $5 billion investment from Nvidia and $2 billion from SoftBank, alongside the U.S. government’s stake in the company, have strengthened Intel’s balance sheet and given Tan the flexibility to begin reshaping the company’s manufacturing and AI strategy.
Tan has also overhauled the company’s chipmaking operations and tightened what he said was a bloated management structure. “It’s the most optimistic, I think, people have felt about the company in a long time; the near-term dynamic’s set up very well,” said Ryuta Makino, analyst at Intel investor Gabelli Funds. “That’s really the big Intel bull case here – I think there will be at least a double-digit server CPU (central processing unit) price hike in 2026.”
At least 10 brokerages have raised their price targets or ratings for Intel over the last two months, indicating higher expectations from the company. Intel is likely to report a more than 30% jump in its data center business to $4.43 billion for the quarter ended December, according to data compiled by LSEG. The jump could be attributed to big tech companies building out advanced data centers that need Intel’s traditional server chips and CPUs alongside graphics processors made by the likes of Nvidia. Sales in Intel’s personal computer unit likely rose 2.5% to $8.21 billion.
