Intel’s inventory hit a report excessive at present within the aftermath of a Bloomberg report that claimed Apple is exploring Intel and Samsung Electronics as potential manufacturing companions for future machine chips. Listed here are the main points.
Intel hits record-high valuation
Final evening, Bloomberg reported that Apple had been exploring early-stage talks with Intel and evaluating amenities from Samsung Electronics in a push to diversify manufacturing of its core machine chips past TSMC.
The report famous that whereas Apple had reliability considerations, and it “might not in the end transfer ahead with one other associate,” that was sufficient to ship Intel’s inventory on a tear.
Intel’s inventory climbed as excessive as $110.48 throughout buying and selling at present, marking a report excessive, earlier than closing at $108.18 with a report market cap of $543.71 billion.
Right now’s features prolonged what has been a exceptional comeback for Intel. After falling as little as $18.96 over the previous yr, the inventory is now up 174% in 2026, and 433% from a yr in the past, with after-hours buying and selling including one other 4.76%.
A lot of those features got here after the U.S. authorities introduced a deal to purchase a roughly 10% stake within the firm on August 22, 2025.
Along with his cope with Trump, Tan has overseen a serious reversal in Intel’s enterprise momentum since he changed interim co-CEOs David Zinsner and Michelle Johnston Holthaus, who had been main the corporate following the departure of former CEO Pat Gelsinger in December 2024.
Within the interim, the corporate returned to income progress, topped Wall Road expectations, and has been benefiting from renewed demand for its core CPU enterprise, notably as AI infrastructure spending started increasing past GPUs.
In the case of its relationship with Apple, rekindling a partnership can be one other feather in Tan’s cap, since Apple famously ditched Intel following roadmap delays and missed deadlines that affected the Mac’s enterprise.
Final July, Reuters reported that Tan was already exploring a shift in Intel’s foundry technique geared toward making the corporate extra aggressive for main outdoors prospects like Apple and Nvidia, together with by focusing extra assets on its next-generation 14A course of fairly than attempting to win new purchasers with 18A.
A number of months after that, analysts Ming-Chi Kuo and Jeff Pu each recommended that Intel might begin producing some Apple-designed chips later this decade, with Kuo pointing to base M-series chips for Macs and iPads as quickly as 2027, and Pu saying Intel-made non-Professional iPhone chips might observe in 2028.
That, in flip, got here after Bloomberg reported that Intel had approached Apple about investing within the firm, whereas the 2 firms additionally mentioned methods to work extra intently collectively as Intel tried to maintain its comeback story going. From the report:
Intel Corp. has approached Apple Inc. about securing an funding within the ailing chipmaker, in line with folks aware of the matter, a part of efforts to bolster a enterprise that’s now partially owned by the US authorities.
Apple and Intel even have mentioned the way to work extra intently collectively, stated the folks, who requested to not be recognized as a result of the deliberations are non-public. The talks have been early-stage and will not result in an settlement, the folks stated.
All of that stated, whereas this week’s report didn’t go into technical element about Apple’s exploratory discussions with Intel, the market seems to have discovered the likelihood compelling sufficient to issue it into Intel’s valuation, particularly given the whole lot else Tan has managed to perform throughout his first yr on the job.
What’s your tackle the potential for Apple and Intel working collectively as soon as once more? Tell us within the feedback.
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