New York, Feb 19, 2026, 18:19 (ET) — After-hours
- Intel shares fell about 2% in Thursday’s session and were little changed in late after-hours trading.
- A three-session slide has put the focus back on AI-linked valuations and data-center competition.
- Investors are looking ahead to Friday’s U.S. inflation data and a March 4 Intel CFO appearance at a Morgan Stanley conference.
Intel Corp shares fell 1.9% on Thursday to $44.62, after touching $43.92 at the low, and held near that level in after-hours trading, which follows the 4 p.m. close on U.S. exchanges.
The pullback matters now because Intel sits at the crossroads of two investor debates: how long the AI buildout lasts, and whether the spending trickles down beyond the biggest winners. For Intel bulls, it is about reclaiming pricing power in PCs and getting more out of its data-center franchise.
For skeptics, it is simpler. New AI hardware headlines keep arriving, and the list of credible rivals in the data center keeps getting longer — a problem for a company trying to rebuild confidence while funding a costly manufacturing overhaul.
The broader market tone did not help. Wall Street ended lower, and “the market is trying to grapple with what business lines are under threat in a material way from AI,” said Keith Buchanan, a senior portfolio manager at GLOBALT Investments. Investors will closely parse the Personal Consumption Expenditures report, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, due on Friday. (Reuters)
Intel’s drop extended a three-session slide of roughly 4.5%, leaving the stock about 18% below its 52-week high of $54.60 hit on Jan. 22, based on recent closes. (Investing)
In the background, Nvidia has been making a point of pushing into central processing units, the category Intel still leans on in data centers. Nvidia said this week it struck a multiyear deal to sell Meta Platforms millions of AI chips and also supply its Grace and next-generation Vera processors, which compete with Intel and AMD. “Meta has already had a chance to get on Vera and run some of those workloads. And the results look very promising,” said Ian Buck, general manager of Nvidia’s hyperscale and high-performance computing unit. (Reuters)
That CPU angle matters because data-center buyers care about power use and total system cost, not just raw speed. Arm-based designs — built on an architecture common in smartphones — have been pitched as a way to cut power draw in big server fleets, one of the biggest expenses for cloud operators.
But the trade can turn quickly. “Valuations for anything with AI exposure are getting a bit rich,” said Michael Reynolds, vice president of investment strategy at Glenmede. (Reuters)
Intel’s own story is still tied to execution. Last month, the company said it struggled to satisfy demand for server chips used in AI data centers and forecast quarterly revenue and profit below market estimates. (Reuters)
Next up, Intel said finance chief David Zinsner will take part in a fireside chat on the company’s business and strategy at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference on March 4. Traders will be listening for any fresh read on server demand, factory output and whether Intel can defend share as rivals push further into the data center. (Intel Corporation)
