Wall Street optimistic as Intel foundry progress leads to analyst upgrades

Wall Street is back trading Intel like a stock that matters again. The shares are up 31% already this year, making it the third-best performer in the S&P 500. That follows an 84% surge in 2025, pushing the stock close to a two‑year high.

The rebound comes after a brutal 60% collapse in 2024, when rivals rode the AI boom and left Intel behind. The mood has flipped fast. Kim Forrest of Bokeh Capital Partners said, “It’s back from the dead. It was painful to own and it’s wonderful now.”

She has held the stock for years.

Wall Street upgrades pile up as earnings draw closer

Several forces are driving the shift. The financial outlook looks less bleak. Analyst sentiment has improved. Talk of fresh foundry customers keeps growing.

There is also rising interest tied to Donald Trump, now the 47th president, and his “America First” push. Intel reports fourth‑quarter results after the bell on January 22, and traders want proof that progress is real.

Citi and KeyBanc have both lifted their views. The stock now has the highest number of buy‑equivalent ratings in more than a year.

Earlier this week, John Vinh at KeyBanc moved the shares to overweight. He pointed to solid demand, steps forward in the foundry unit, and a possible deal with Apple covering chips for Macs and iPhones.

Vinh said the 18A process could make the company a credible number two foundry, ahead of Samsung. He set a $60 price target, the highest on the Street, which implies 24% upside from the $48.32 close on Thursday.

Not everyone agrees. The average target sits at $40.66, which points to a 16% drop over the next year. Some analysts think Wall Street is late adjusting. Citi raised its rating to neutral from sell and lifted its target to $50 from $29. Analyst Atif Malik wrote:-

“We believe Intel should benefit from tight advanced packaging capacity at TSMC and has a window to attract wafer customers with U.S. government support.”

Foundry hopes and political ties aid price outlook for Intel stock

Beyond foundry talk, Intel is seeing demand for CPU chips used in PCs and data centers. These systems still need CPUs alongside GPU chips sold by Nvidia and others.

Trump of course last year helped broker a U.S. government investment after publicly criticizing CEO Lip‑Bu Tan. Nvidia and SoftBank have also invested, strengthening the balance sheet.

Paul Meeks of Freedom Capital Markets said, “You have a company seen as being on the right side with power brokers in Washington and with marquee tech firms.”

The stock also gets support from geography, as Intel is one of the few major chipmakers producing on U.S. soil. Investors are watching rising tension around Taiwan, which could disrupt TSMC, the world’s most important foundry.

Still though, Intel currently trades at over four times estimated sales, the highest in more than twenty years.

Intel’s revenue is expected to surge by 3% in 2026 after a 1% drop in 2025, according to Bloomberg estimates.

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