Things have been rough lately for chip stock Intel (INTC), but one potential winner of a point emerged today as Intel looks like it is more ready than ever before to take on its rivals in the field. The Panther Lake chip lineup is a particularly bright spot, and may be a means to knock AMD (AMD) off its perch in the market. Intel investors took up the call to arms and piled in, sending shares up nearly 4% in Tuesday afternoon’s trading.
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New reports suggest that the Panther Lake line may have more muscle behind it than some expected, especially when it is used as the basis for handheld devices. It turns out that the Panther Lake is not only delivering high-end power, but reports note it is also proving to be a battery-sipper, calling on low amounts of energy to deliver that power.
The reports suggest that the Core X9 Ultra 388H can deliver 17 hours of operation on the Procyon Office Productivity battery test. This is not exactly a gaming test, but apparently, the Procyon system takes about as much battery life as a game would, making the two tests reasonably compatible. We know that Intel has an interest in getting the Panther Lake series into gaming devices, so if this power supply thing continues to hold, a handheld running Panther Lake should prove to be a winner.
The Last Bonus
Intel’s Israeli employees received pleasant news recently as well. The last special bonus payout for employees in the country will be unusually large, and a significant step up from last year’s payout. Last year, Israeli employees got the equivalent of 0.8 months’ pay for a bonus. This year, however, the amount more than doubles, reaching 1.8 months.
Originally, Israeli employees’ pay packages included what was called a “local component,” which was tied to quarterly profits, annual performance bonuses, and stock rewards. Starting this year, though, the “local component” is removed, and instead is folded into base pay.
Is Intel a Buy, Hold or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on INTC stock based on seven Buys, 19 Holds and four Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 114.6% rally in its share price over the past year, the average INTC price target of $48.04 per share implies 9.26% upside potential.
