Shares of Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC) surged about 28% in premarket trading on Friday after the chipmaker delivered stronger-than-expected first-quarter results and issued an upbeat outlook for the second quarter, driven by robust demand for its AI-focused data center chips.
The stock climbed to around $85, putting it on track to surpass its all-time high reached during the dot-com era more than two decades ago.
Intel forecast second-quarter 2026 earnings per share of $0.20, well above the $0.09 consensus estimate. Revenue for the period is expected to range between $13.8 billion and $14.8 billion, also ahead of forecasts of $13.04 billion.
AI Demand Fuels Turnaround
After years of strategic missteps that left it trailing in the artificial intelligence race, Intel has been working to regain momentum under CEO Lip-Bu Tan. The turnaround strategy has included asset disposals, cost reductions and efforts to strengthen the balance sheet.
Tan has also secured key partnerships and investments, including collaborations with the U.S. government, SoftBank Group Corp (TYO:9984) and NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), aimed at boosting manufacturing capabilities and restoring investor confidence.
Strong First-Quarter Performance
Intel reported first-quarter revenue of $13.6 billion, up 7% from $12.7 billion a year earlier and above analyst expectations of $12.41 billion.
Revenue from its data center and AI division rose 22% year-on-year to $5.1 billion, highlighting accelerating demand in this segment.
The company posted earnings per share of $0.29 for the quarter, beating estimates by $0.27.
“We delivered robust Q1 results, reflecting the growing and essential role of the CPU in the AI era and unprecedented demand for silicon, as well as our disciplined execution to expand available supply,” said David Zinsner.
Strategic Partnerships and Manufacturing Push
Earlier this week, Elon Musk said Tesla plans to use Intel’s next-generation 14A process technology for chip production at its planned Terafab AI facility in Austin.
Such a deal would represent a significant milestone for Intel, potentially marking its first major external customer for its latest manufacturing node—an important step as it seeks to compete with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE:TSM).
Intel has also recently expanded its collaboration with Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL), with plans to deploy Intel Xeon processors across Google’s infrastructure, including the latest Xeon 6 chips powering advanced cloud instances. The partnership also includes joint development of custom ASIC-based infrastructure processing units to improve efficiency and scalability for AI workloads.
Analyst Reactions Mixed
Analysts at Stifel raised their price target on Intel to $75 from $65 after the company “significantly beat expectations.”
“While we remain encouraged with INTC’s solid execution over the past few quarters, we continue to believe that gross margin durability is likely to remain uncertain, and improvement from here is not linear. The valuation reset has been significant, and, we believe, prices in continued execution on several challenging dynamics ahead,” they added.