Give chip stock Intel (INTC) credit, because it has gone just about everywhere and done just about everything for money. It has been slashing costs like a chainsaw in a toothpick factory. It went to the government. It went to its own competitors. It offered up discount stock to anyone who bought in hard enough. And now, Intel is going even farther, and looking to another big name in the chip market, Apple (AAPL), to buy in and potentially give Intel the foundry partner it needs. Investors were floored, and they piled in on Intel stock in response. Intel shares were up over 7.5% in Thursday afternoon’s trading.
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Intel took its case to Apple, looking for some investment which will, hopefully, help get it back up and running fully. Apparently, the two companies have talked before—several times, reports note—but there was no definitive word on whether or not Apple would get involved with Intel.
But there are some dark signs on that front. Apple has declined to work with Intel before in the past because Intel’s technology has not kept up with its competition. Naturally, this is a problem for Apple, which wants the best chips it can get for the money. Just buying in on Intel will not go very far without the material to back up that investment. But expecting Intel to suddenly start producing innovative, market-beating chips without support is a bridge too far itself.
Raptor Lake Price Hikes
We also found out about plans to hike prices on Raptor Lake chips. As it turns out, people love the Raptor Lake lineup, and as such, Intel is hiking prices accordingly to get more cash from sales of the chips in question. It turns out that customers are less interested in Lunar Lake models, which come with some artificial intelligence (AI) support, and would rather stick to the Raptor Lake line.
Intel did not offer specifics on which chips in the Raptor Lake line would see price hikes, but rather, that chips “…launched in October 2022…” would be in line. Though with Intel’s current lineup reportedly lagging the market, it is easy to wonder how long this strategy will hold out.
Is Intel a Buy, Hold or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on INTC stock based on two Buys, 27 Holds and four Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 30.52% rally in its share price over the past year, the average INTC price target of $26.26 per share implies 22.63% downside risk.
