New York, Feb 17, 2026, 06:52 (ET) — Premarket
- Intel picked up roughly 0.6% ahead of the bell.
- U.S. stock futures slipped following the long weekend, with anxiety over AI “disruption” still hanging over the market.
- Friday’s inflation report is shaping up to be the next hurdle for tech valuations, with investors watching closely.
Shares of Intel were up 0.6% ahead of the bell Tuesday, last trading at $46.79.
U.S. stock index futures slipped following the long weekend, as concerns over a wider selloff linked to AI disruption kept investors on edge. “AI adoption is an overall positive rather than a negative, but it would change the business models of some industries,” Jefferies economist Mohit Kumar noted. 1
Intel’s shares are moving on two main fronts right now: Wall Street is treating the name as a bet on the AI-driven server expansion, but also as a gauge for where U.S. rates are headed—and, by extension, the appetite for tech stocks in general.
No fresh Intel news hit before the bell, so the stock simply moved with broader risk sentiment and shifting expectations around rates and AI demand.
Back in late January, Intel flagged difficulties keeping up with demand for its AI data center server chips and projected first-quarter revenue and profit to come in under expectations. “In the short term, I’m disappointed that we are not able to fully meet the demand in our markets,” Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan told analysts. 2
Supply issues haven’t budged from center stage. Reuters, citing sources, said earlier this month that Intel and AMD alerted Chinese buyers to extended delays for certain server CPUs—Intel, in particular, flagged possible lead times stretching to six months. The company also mentioned inventory would hit a “lowest level in Q1” and projected supply to pick up through the rest of 2026. 3
Tan hasn’t limited the story to CPUs. Speaking with Reuters this month, he said Intel intends to produce graphics processing units — the same type of chips that gave Nvidia its commanding data-center presence. “It’s tied in with the data center,” he said. 4
The flip side’s not hard to see. If tech keeps sliding, Intel’s recent uptick might not last long. Any whiff of lingering supply snags — or delays in rolling out those new products — would probably hit the stock first, well before the numbers reflect it.
No events are on Intel’s investor calendar now, so traders are left watching for broader market signals or any surprise news from the company. 5
Friday brings the next key data point: the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis will release December’s Personal Income and Outlays figures, including the PCE price index, the inflation metric the Fed watches most closely. The numbers are set to drop Feb. 20 at 8:30 a.m. ET. 6
