Intel Stock Just Did Something It Hasn't Done Since 2020

Intel reported earnings on Thursday, and the stock did something it hasn't done in over four years: it went up. A lot. Shares jumped roughly 10% after the beleaguered chipmaker posted better-than-expected revenue and—get this—actually made some money. For those of you who stopped following Intel around the time your 2017 MacBook started sounding like a jet engine, here's the recap: the company that once put "Intel Inside" on every laptop in America spent the last few years getting absolutely bodied by Nvidia in AI chips, losing Apple as a customer, watching its market cap get lapped by basically everyone, and laying off thousands of workers while its stock limped along like a Windows XP machine trying to run Chrome. So what happened? Intel's data center and AI revenue came in stronger than Wall Street's famously low bar, and cost-cutting measures started showing up on the balance sheet. CEO Pat Gelsinger—who has been publicly manifesting an Intel comeback with the energy of a guy who just discovered cold plunges—pointed to progress on the company's foundry business, the thing where Intel makes chips for other companies instead of just itself. That bet has been bleeding cash for years, so any sign of life is being treated like a miracle. The stock is still down massively from its 2021 highs, because one good quarter does not undo three years of existential dread. Intel missed the entire AI boom while Nvidia was busy becoming the most valuable company on Earth, and it's now playing catch-up in a race where the leader already finished and is doing victory laps. But hey, a 10% pop is a 10% pop. Investors who bought the dip are feeling like geniuses, and everyone who sold at the bottom is quietly deleting their brokerage app. Analysts are split, because of course they are. Bulls say the foundry strategy is finally turning a corner and the U.S. government's chip subsidies give Intel a safety net. Bears say the company is still losing money on manufacturing, still losing market share, and still fundamentally a decade behind where it needs to be. Both of these things are true simultaneously, which is what makes the stock such a beautiful disaster to watch. The real question is whether this is a genuine turnaround or just a dead cat bouncing on a trampoline. Intel has promised a comeback roughly every six months since 2020, and each time the stock rallies, then remembers it has to actually compete with companies that aren't running on fumes and nostalgia. This time could be different. It probably isn't. But if you've been holding Intel since 2021, you've already endured enough pain that a little hope feels nice. **The Take:** Intel rallying 10% on "not as terrible as expected" is the most on-brand thing this company has ever done. It's the corporate equivalent of getting a C-minus and celebrating because you didn't fail. That said, if you're into buying tickets to a comeback story that may or may not have a third act, the ride is certainly entertaining.