Chip stock Intel (INTC) may have just landed the ally it needs to come back from its formerly losing position for good. While Intel itself has been pushing hard to get its chips back into artificial intelligence (AI) and other systems, one big new opportunity recently emerged. Intel will have a hand in Tesla’s (TSLA) construction of its Terafab system. The news buoyed investor spirit and sent shares surging up over 2% in Tuesday afternoon’s trading.
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Trade TSLA with leverageIntel recently played host to Elon Musk at its campus, showing off what it can do, and giving Musk the inducement needed to bring Intel into the project. With Intel involved in the Terafab’s production, it should go a long way toward accelerating the project and getting Terafab making chips faster. Given earlier reports that suggested the Terafab could take just over three years to build, anything that slims that process down should be welcome.
Meanwhile, Intel’s Lip-Bu Tan noted, “Elon has a proven track record of re-imagining entire industries. This is exactly what is needed in semiconductor manufacturing today. Terafab represents a step change in how silicon logic, memory and packaging will get built in the future.”
“Zero Real Reason”
Meanwhile, in a move that will likely leave few questions behind, Linux developers have recently begun removing support for Linux in a particular environment: the Intel 486 CPU. For those who do not remember, the 486 was once regarded as one of the most powerful processors around, back around the time of its release. Given that its release was 37 years ago, that should tell you all you need to know about why Linux no longer supports it.
Linux creator Linus Torvalds had been foreshadowing an end to 486 support for some time prior to this move, reports noted. But between this, the sheer age of the 486, and the fact that Linux itself is starting to get a bit more resource-intensive, the end result is that supporting the 486 was starting to get in the way of other builds.
Is Intel a Buy, Hold or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on INTC stock based on six Buys, 23 Holds and four Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 180.09% rally in its share price over the past year, the average INTC price target of $48.07 per share implies 7.5% downside risk.
