Intel's stock surged 24% on Friday, marking its strongest single-day gain since October 1987, as investors cheered signs of recovery driven by growing artificial intelligence demand. The stock closed at $82.57, bringing its year-to-date increase to 124% after already climbing 84% throughout 2025. Friday's rally surpassed the 23% jump seen on September 18, when Nvidia agreed to invest $5 billion in Intel. Since taking over as CEO early last year, Chen Liwu has reignited Wall Street's interest in the struggling chipmaker by securing investments from the Trump administration and Nvidia, helping the company—which had largely been left out of the AI boom—gain a foothold in the sector. Analysts at Evercore ISI wrote in a post-earnings report, "Intel's new CEO has repaired the balance sheet and is executing a strategy that appears to put Intel back on a competitive track." The firm raised its rating on Intel to the equivalent of "buy." The company's revenue exceeded expectations, rising 7.2% year-over-year to $13.58 billion from $12.67 billion in the same period last year. This follows revenue declines in five of the prior seven quarters. Intel also provided an optimistic outlook for the second quarter. The Wall Street rebound marks a significant turnaround for the U.S. chipmaker, which saw its market value drop 60% in 2024, leading to the ouster of then-CEO Pat Gelsinger in December of that year. For years, the company had largely missed out on the AI race, hampered by manufacturing delays and waiting for major customers to emerge for its chip foundry business. Some analysts remain cautious, awaiting evidence that Intel’s next-generation 14A manufacturing technology—scheduled for 2028 or later—can deliver satisfactory yields. Although Chen previously indicated Intel would wait for anchor customers before advancing costly new technology upgrades, he posted on X in January that the company would "go all-in on 14A." During last Thursday’s earnings call, Chen stated that "multiple customers" are "actively evaluating the technology," adding that development is progressing faster than the earlier 18A technology. Intel’s data center business is currently the primary growth driver, with revenue climbing 22% year-over-year to $5.1 billion as AI fuels new demand for central processing units. Chen described the CPU as "an indispensable foundation in the AI era" during the call. Citi analysts upgraded the stock from neutral to buy, projecting rising CPU sales across all suppliers in the coming years.
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