Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) Stock Rating Raised to "Outperform" at KGI Securities

Key Points

• KGI Securities upgraded Intel to “outperform” from “neutral” and set a $95 price target, implying 3.18% upside from the prior close.
• Intel reported adjusted quarterly EPS of $0.52, beating the $0.41 consensus, while revenue rose 20.9% year over year to $16.51 billion.
• Despite stronger quarterly results and increased institutional ownership, analyst sentiment remains cautious: Intel has a consensus “hold” rating and a $104.61 average price target, with weak fourth-quarter guidance and a deeper-than-expected PC slowdown adding pressure.

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at KGI Securities from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a $95.00 price target on the chip maker's stock. KGI Securities's price objective points to a potential upside of 3.18% from the company's previous close.

INTC has been the subject of several other reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Intel from $120.00 to $110.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $133.00 price objective on shares of Intel in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Intel from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Intel from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Intel from $118.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $104.61.

Intel Stock Performance

INTC stock opened at $92.07 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $464.40 billion, a P/E ratio of -43.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.14 and a beta of 2.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $101.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.25. Intel has a 1 year low of $32.89 and a 1 year high of $142.35.

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The chip maker reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $16.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.56 billion. Intel had a negative net margin of 19.79% and a positive return on equity of 2.62%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.23 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Intel will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Intel news, CEO Lip Bu Tan bought 105,263 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $95.00 per share, for a total transaction of $9,999,985.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,314,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $124,893,555. The trade was a 8.70% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.05% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Intel

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new position in shares of Intel during the 2nd quarter valued at $10,507,291,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Intel during the second quarter worth about $4,096,110,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Intel by 87.1% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 30,214,769 shares of the chip maker's stock valued at $3,632,722,000 after purchasing an additional 14,063,302 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in Intel during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,848,438,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Intel by 35.7% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 31,724,362 shares of the chip maker's stock valued at $4,429,673,000 after buying an additional 8,342,514 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.53% of the company's stock.

Intel News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Intel this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Intel reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.52 per share, above the roughly $0.40–$0.41 consensus, while revenue rose 21% year over year to $16.5 billion. Data Center and AI revenue surged 78% to $7.3 billion, and Intel Foundry revenue increased 58%. Intel Q3 Revenue Rises 21% to $16.5 Billion
• Positive Sentiment: CEO Lip-Bu Tan said AI agents could expand the server CPU market toward $200 billion, offering a potential long-term growth opportunity despite current execution challenges. Intel Server CPU Market Outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Intel’s turnaround remains dependent on converting strong AI and data-center demand into reliable supply, while its costly foundry expansion continues to require substantial investment. Intel PC Slowdown and Foundry Risks
• Negative Sentiment: Intel guided for fourth-quarter revenue of $15 billion to $16 billion and adjusted EPS of about $0.25, well below analyst expectations of approximately $17.3 billion in revenue and $0.45 EPS. The outlook also implies lower margins and earnings than in the third quarter. Intel Shares Tumble on Weak Guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Management said the PC slowdown arrived sooner and was deeper than expected and could persist through at least the first half of next year. Higher memory prices and constrained corporate laptop budgets are adding pressure to client-computing demand. Intel Blames PC Slowdown for Weak Guidance
• Negative Sentiment: A factory explosion in Israel and manufacturing bottlenecks are creating additional supply and execution risks. Analysts responded by cutting EPS estimates, downgrading Intel, and reducing price targets, with Bank of America lowering its target from $145 to $100. Analyst Cuts Intel Price Target
• Negative Sentiment: The disappointing forecast triggered broader semiconductor weakness, weighing on AMD, Dell, HP and other chip-related stocks as investors reassessed PC demand and the cost of AI infrastructure. Intel Results Pressure Technology Stocks

About Intel

Intel Corporation NASDAQ: INTC is a global semiconductor company that designs and manufactures computing and connectivity products. Its portfolio includes Intel Core processors for personal computers, Xeon processors for data centers and enterprise systems, and products for networking, edge computing, graphics, and artificial intelligence workloads.

Through Intel Foundry, the company also provides semiconductor manufacturing and technology-development services for external customers. Intel develops process technologies, advanced packaging, and other manufacturing capabilities intended to support its own products and third-party chip designs.

Founded in 1968 by Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore, Intel helped establish the modern microprocessor industry and has historically supplied processors for PCs, servers, and other computing systems.

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