- Intel stock more than doubled in April—the chipmaker’s best month since 1971.
- Market cap surged from $80 billion to $330 billion in just over a year.
- Skeptics argue the rally mirrors a short squeeze, not a structural turnaround.
Intel’s stock closed above $83 this week—an all-time high. The last time shares traded at that level, George W. Bush was in the White House and the dot-com bubble had just popped. In April alone, Intel gained more than 100%, making it the chipmaker’s best month since its Nasdaq debut in 1971. The company has now exceeded its own guidance for six consecutive quarters, and its upcoming 14A process node is reportedly yielding better than its 18A predecessor did at the same stage.
The numbers are stark. Intel added roughly $250 billion in market value over the past year, going from $80 billion to $330 billion. Its Q1 earnings beat expectations by a wide margin: $13.57 billion in revenue and $0.29 EPS versus estimates of $12.4 billion and $0.02. Q2 guidance came in at $13.8-$14.8 billion revenue and $0.20 EPS, both above what analysts projected. “The conversation about Intel was whether we could survive,” CEO Lip-Bu Tan told Forbes. “Now it’s about how we scale our supply to meet the enormous demand for our products.”
Tan called Intel a “fundamentally different company” than when he took the helm in 2025. He’s not wrong—the company inked a $14.2 billion deal to buy back half of a plant, bringing manufacturing back in-house in a way it hasn’t done in years. The CHIPS Act funding gave investors a narrative to cling to, and the US government has a clear interest in keeping domestic semiconductor production alive.
Why Intel’s Stock Surge Has Skeptics Worried
Here’s the uncomfortable context: AMD gained 223% over the same period. Nvidia climbed 87.8%. Intel’s 211% looks impressive until you realize it started from a much lower baseline—the stock traded below $20 as recently as early 2025. The rally that looks historic from Intel’s internal perspective still has the chipmaker playing catch-up to competitors who never stopped executing.
There’s also the technical argument. Intel’s P/E ratio has compressed as the stock surged, which makes sense if earnings are improving. But the valuation now prices in a lot of future execution. “Significant beat on the quarter,” Stifel analysts wrote, noting that the company’s turnaround has been “significant” and its execution “solid.” That doesn’t mean the stock is fairly priced—it means the narrative has shifted enough that bad news would have to be catastrophic to undo the gains.
The AI chip market is growing fast enough that there’s room for multiple players. TSMC handles manufacturing for most of the industry, which means Intel’s competitive position depends on design and product，而不是 manufacturing parity. The 14A node will be the real test. If it yields as well as early data suggests, Intel has a legitimate shot at competing in AI chips beyond the data center CPUs it’s traditionally dominated.
Lip-Bu Tan is betting that the next chapter looks nothing like the last one. The stock says investors are starting to believe him—though whether they should remains the open question Intel has to answer with actual product, not PowerPoint decks.
Intel reports Q2 earnings in July.
