Here's Why Intel Stock Soared Last Month

Shares in Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) soared by 21.8% in June, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. There are probably two reasons for the increase, and both speak to the business's longer-term growth potential.

Intel and Apple make an agreement?

While its important to note that neither company has confirmed reaching an agreement, in mid-June President Trump announced that Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) amd Intel had reached an agreement that they would design and manufacture chips in the U.S. The deal, if confirmed, would be good news for Intel's foundry business as it tries to build scale and better compete with market leader Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE: TSM).

A deal would also be in line with the Trump administration's determination to encourage domestic manufacturing, and particularly with key technology providers like Apple. For example, the administration invested and entered into a public-private partnership with rare-earth company MP Materials in July of last year, which was closely followed by a $500 million long-term supply agreement for rare earth magnets between MP Materials and Apple. Given that the Trump administration also invested in Intel in 2025 (acquiring 10% of the company), it's reasonable to expect more pressure for an Apple/Intel deal.

Intel's core business has growth prospects

Intel's core business of making central processing units (CPUs) is often seen as secondary to the AI data center build-out, as graphics processing units (GPUs) from Nvidia and others have grabbed attention. GPUs are specialized for building and training large language models (LLMs) and are therefore essential to the buildout of AI infrastructure. Meanwhile, CPUs are used relatively more for inference, such as the AI applications that agents actually run.

Image source: Getty Images.

Indeed, Intel CFO David Zinsner noted on the April earnings call that the GPU-to-CPU ratio in training solutions was up to 8:1, but could drop to 3:1 in inference. He expounded on those remarks in June at a Bank of America technology conference, stating, "the ratio of CPUs to GPUs is growing meaningfully as we get from training to inference, inference to agentic and multiagent and reinforced learning. So it's just going to drive a lot of CPU requirements."

As the market's recognition of the longer-term growth potential in inference AI spending crystallizes, Intel's role in CPU manufacturing will likely be better recognized.

Where next for Intel

An Apple deal would be good news, and its confirmation would probably be good news for the stock. Meanwhile, the ongoing recognition of the growing importance of inference spending should also create upside potential for the stock.

Bank of America is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Lee Samaha has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple, Intel, MP Materials, Nvidia, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.