MW Is the Intel stock hype overdone? How to make sense of the latest big move.
By Britney Nguyen and Hannah Pedone
'The excitement is at a point where every little bit of possible good news is driving shares higher,' one analyst says
Shares of Intel rose 12% on Wednesday.
Another furious Intel stock rally has reignited the debate over whether the chip maker's shares are being driven by meaningful business developments or just momentum.
Two factors may have helped drive Intel's stock $(INTC)$ up 12% in Wednesday's trading session. One, according to D.A. Davidson managing director Gil Luria, was a TrendForce report saying that Apple $(AAPL)$ is considering using Intel's upcoming advanced chip process node, 18A-P, to manufacture its M-series chips. The report also said that Google $(GOOGL)$ $(GOOG)$ is considering using Intel's Embedded Multi-die Interconnect Bridge advanced packaging technology.
Intel, Apple and Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Tesla $(TSLA)$ previously confirmed that it plans to use Intel's next-generation 14A process node for its Terafab chip-manufacturing project, and investors have been hopeful that Intel can win more manufacturing business, which is necessary to financially justify the company's foundry unit.
"The excitement is at a point where every little bit of possible good news is driving shares higher, regardless of [its] validity or magnitude," Luria told MarketWatch. Intel shares have more than doubled just this month.
Intel's stock surge reflects growing optimism about the foundry business, which manufactures chips for external customers. Wall Street puts much of that hope on the success of 14A, which refers to the generation of manufacturing technology.
Read more: Intel's stock extends its spectacular run by posting its best day in nearly four decades
"Intel is now in a position to prove to clients and investors that their foundry is top-tier and competitive with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing," Egor Tolmachev of Freedom Broker told MarketWatch.
The chip maker has released consumer and commercial personal-computer chips built on its latest 18A technology - and with reports that the 18A-P iteration has increased both performance and power savings, Tolmachev said Intel has "effectively pulled a generational improvement into the same 18A node."
Additionally, Intel has reportedly improved its chip yield, or the amount of usable chips it can get from one wafer, and that "is a critical metric for any foundry," he added.
Intel has talked up its EMIB chip-packaging technology, which would be an alternative to TSM's $(TSM)$ Chip-on-Wafer-on-Substrate (CoWoS) technology, which is used for advanced AI chips from Nvidia (NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices $(AMD)$.
See also: How Intel's CEO brought the storied company back from the brink
-Britney Nguyen -Hannah Pedone
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April 29, 2026 18:18 ET (22:18 GMT)
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