To The Moon

With a nearly 9% plunge on the first day of trading in September, $ Intel (INTC)$ shares are now down nearly 60% this year, making it the worst performer in the $ Dow Jones (.DJI)$ index.Of course, Intel's depressed stock price has limited its influence in the index, as the Dow Jones uses a price-weighted calculation method

Intel was one of the first two tech companies to join the Dow Jones Industrial Average in the late '90s during the dot-com boom, the other being $Microsoft (MSFT)$.

Intel's reputation and stock price are further damaged if it is kicked out of the Dow.

It can't be blamed for missing out on the AI boom, including dropping its investment in OpenAI, and facing mounting losses in its contract manufacturing division, which was originally designed to compete with $ TSMC (TSM)$.

To fund its turnaround, Intel suspended its dividend and announced layoffs affecting 15 percent of its workforce in last month's earnings announcement.But the market, and even a former board member, questioned whether the measures were enough.Afterward, its core board member Lip-Bu Tan announced his resignation.

The board allegedly began discussing various scenarios, including a spin-off of the product design and manufacturing business, and canceled fab projects.

Intel will probably spin off the fab (Foundry) business as a separate company.At the same time .Reduced capital expenditures and canceled factory projects.

Global semiconductor sales fell 11.1% in July from June, below the five- and 10-year averages, mainly due to weak memory chip sales, according to UBS Securities. End-market demand was unfavorable to Intel, coupled with missteps in its product roadmap.