Jim Cramer Says INTC Stock ‘Belongs at $110,’ Blames Situational Awareness Blowup for Intel’s Post-Earnings ’Hideous Selling’

CNBC host Jim Cramer claims Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC) stock is artificially depressed and “belongs at $110” following massive forced liquidations from Leopold Aschenbrenner’s hedge fund, Situational Awareness.

Cramer attributed the semiconductor giant’s last week’s post-earnings collapse to “some of the most hideous selling I have ever witnessed,” pinning the relentless market dump on the over-leveraged AI fund’s sudden unwinding.

Unmasking the Culprit Behind the Dump

Following strong quarterly results, Intel experienced an aggressive and uncharacteristic selloff that initially baffled market observers. In a post on X, Cramer revealed that the unrelenting stream of shares hitting the market was not driven by fundamental weakness, but by a forced liquidation event.

“It had just reported the best quarter of the earnings season,” Cramer wrote. “We now know the selling was him. It was him all along.”

“Him” most likely refers to Aschenbrenner, the former OpenAI researcher whose $20 billion AI fund, Situational Awareness, ran into severe distress after deploying 4x leverage. When AI trades corrected, prime brokers issued margin calls, forcing the fund to rapidly dump its public holdings into the open market, as explained by Martin Shkreli.

‘Before the Smartest Man in the Room Blew Up’

Cramer argued that Intel’s market capitalization suffered severe collateral damage from margin calls rather than operational failure. Prior to the forced fire sale, the stock was trading near Cramer’s target valuation before the fund’s unwinding disrupted normal trading dynamics.

“Intel’s stock belongs at $110 where it was before the smartest man in the room blew up,” Cramer noted, reiterating that the underlying business fundamentals remain intact despite the massive technical selloff.

Wall Street Unwinds Excessive Leverage

The forced liquidation of Situational Awareness’s portfolio—which reportedly ended with Ken Griffin’s Citadel LLC acquiring the bulk of the fund’s public stock holdings—underscores the severe danger of excessive leverage.

As prime brokers moved aggressively to eliminate risk, fundamentally sound tech companies like Intel were caught in the crossfire of Wall Street margin calls, creating what Cramer views as a temporary, artificially created price distortion.

How Has INTC Performed In 2026?

INTC shares were up 146.96% year-to-date, down by 34.73% over the last month, and higher by 348.03% over the year. It closed 11.30% higher at $91.13 per share on Thursday, and it was up 6.00% in premarket on Friday.

Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that INTC maintains a strong price trend in the long and medium terms but a weak trend in the short term.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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