By Al Root
Intel is trading at par.
That's Wall Street parlance for $100, the "par" value of many bonds. The fact that Intel traded as high as $100.38, 38 cents above the triple-digit level, is remarkable. Shares are coming off their best month of the past 30 years, according to FactSet. And they won't stop going up.
Intel stock was up 5% in midday trading, above $99 and just off daily highs, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.6% and 0.4%, respectively.
Why are shares up on Friday? Tigress Financial raised its price target to $118, up from $66 previously. There is also some relief from Magnificent Seven earnings that AI spending will continue apace. The world still needs a lot of chips.
Both things help, but neither should move a stock 4% or 5% after it gained 114% in April.
To be sure, the stock looks stretched. The relative strength index, a technical tool that measures how quickly shares rise or fall, is at 88. A reading above 70 means a stock is "overbought," which means a lot of bullish sentiment has been packed into shares quickly.
That's a technical observation, not a fundamental one. Technical analysts use stock charts and market history to understand investor sentiment and where stocks can go over the short- and medium-term.
Barron's senior technical analyst Doug Busch said Intel could go to $100 after it broke out to a new all-time high. It got there in days. "Now [the stock] has to digest," says Busch. "Let the moving averages catch up."
Intel stock is roughly 170% above its 50-day moving average of about $55 and 240% above its 200-day moving average of $40.
Moving averages can offer a stock support when, or if, selling starts. There are other moving averages. The 20-day moving average is close to $70 and rising.
Digestion can mean a stock goes sideways for a while. That's probably a good outcome for Intel stock in the coming weeks.
Exactly what will happen is tough to know. Intel has had a lot of good news lately. Profit margins are improving; its chips are suddenly in high demand for AI data centers; industry partnerships are proliferating; and it's been finding customers for the money-losing fab business. (Turning losses into profits is key for the long term.) Maybe more good news, like additional fab customers, is on the way.
Philosophically, the rise makes some sense. Intel has gone from a chip also-ran to a legitimate player in the AI computing boom. Still, up 1o7% over the past 30 days? To call the recent rally surprising would be an understatement.
Don't forget the stock was coming off a very low base. Its market value was roughly $100 billion not all that long ago, about the time Nvidia's was north of $4 trillion.
Investors holding Intel, while happy, might be getting a little nervous holding a stock that's gone parabolic. To be sure, expectations are sky-high, and volatility will increase. What's more, volatility cut both ways, up and down.
Selling a little might calm anxiety. Just don't forget that things are improving under new leadership. Intel isn't a complicated story.
Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 01, 2026 12:34 ET (16:34 GMT)
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