Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) Raised to Buy at Benchmark

Key Points

• Intel has been upgraded from a "hold" to a "buy" rating by Benchmark, with a price target of $43, suggesting a potential upside of 40.66% from its current stock price.
• Despite the positive upgrade, Intel's most recent quarterly earnings reported a loss of ($0.10) EPS, missing estimates, although revenue was above expectations at $12.86 billion.
• Institutional investors hold a significant stake of 64.53% in Intel, with several firms increasing their investments, indicating growing confidence in the company's future.

Benchmark upgraded shares of Intel (NASDAQ:INTC - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Friday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $43.00 price objective on the chip maker's stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Intel in a research report on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Intel from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Intel in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Intel from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on Intel from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Intel has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $25.23.

Intel Stock Performance

Shares of INTC traded down $0.65 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $28.94. 86,686,446 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 99,263,852. The stock has a market cap of $126.65 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.07 and a beta of 1.23. The stock's fifty day moving average is $23.29 and its 200 day moving average is $22.02. Intel has a 1-year low of $17.67 and a 1-year high of $32.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.24.

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The chip maker reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.01 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $12.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.88 billion. Intel had a negative net margin of 38.64% and a negative return on equity of 3.78%. The company's quarterly revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.02 earnings per share. Intel has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 0.000-0.000 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Intel will post -0.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Intel during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. HFM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Intel during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Intel during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Intel during the first quarter worth $27,000. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Intel in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. 64.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Intel

Intel Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells computing and related products and services worldwide. It operates through Client Computing Group, Data Center and AI, Network and Edge, Mobileye, and Intel Foundry Services segments. The company's products portfolio comprises central processing units and chipsets, system-on-chips (SoCs), and multichip packages; mobile and desktop processors; hardware products comprising graphics processing units (GPUs), domain-specific accelerators, and field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs); and memory and storage, connectivity and networking, and other semiconductor products.