New York, Feb 23, 2026, 06:36 ET — Premarket
- Intel slipped roughly 0.8% ahead of the bell, after closing in the red on Friday.
- U.S. index futures edged lower after Trump rolled out a fresh 15% global tariff.
- Attention now turns to specifics on tariffs and whatever Intel delivers in its next strategy and demand update.
Shares of Intel Corp (INTC.O) slipped 0.8% ahead of Monday’s open, changing hands at $43.75 after finishing Friday at $44.11. Tech stocks, including Intel, tracked lower as traders digested renewed U.S. trade-policy uncertainty.
U.S. stock index futures edged lower after President Donald Trump unveiled a fresh 15% global tariff, despite a 6-3 Supreme Court decision on Friday that wiped out most of his previous tariffs. “It’s really hard … to plan if you’re not even sure about suppliers,” said Arthur Laffer Jr., president of Laffer Tengler Investments. Nasdaq 100 futures slipped roughly 0.36% in early trading. Reuters
Why it matters for Intel right now: chips remain tied up in a web of international supply, and any tariff headlines have a way of stopping orders in their tracks. Investors, jumpy after a rocky start for parts of the semiconductor space this year, haven’t hesitated to hit the sell button first and figure things out later.
Tariffs don’t have to land squarely on Intel to sting. The sharper threat? Ripple effects: pricier components, jumbled delivery schedules, and buyers sitting on their hands, waiting for some clarity before pulling the trigger on upgrades.
Intel’s efforts to prove its turnaround isn’t just for show—delivering real gains in shipments and margins—remain a tough sell to the market. The stock tends to react sharply to anything that muddies the demand picture for the next few months.
Back in late January, Intel flagged trouble keeping up with demand for its server chips—those running alongside AI accelerators in data centers. The company’s revenue outlook for the first quarter landed below what analysts had penciled in. “In the short term, I’m disappointed,” CEO Lip-Bu Tan told analysts, as factories were already maxed out. Finance chief David Zinsner added that cloud customers “were all a little bit caught off guard” by how quickly demand spiked. Reuters
With that in mind, traders stay zeroed in on execution—will Intel deliver on its shipping promises, and can it pull that off without sacrificing more margin than shareholders are willing to accept? The margin for error is tight. Macro shocks only make things more complicated.
But there’s a clear risk here. Tariff uncertainty creeping into corporate IT budgets or hitting consumer spending could slow down PC and server refresh cycles—Intel’s volumes would take the hit almost immediately.
Next up: Intel’s CFO, David Zinsner, is set to present at Morgan Stanley’s Technology, Media & Telecom Conference on March 4, kicking off at 8:35 a.m. Pacific. Investors will be looking for updates on demand, margin outlook, and just how much cash the company expects to burn as it pushes through its turnaround.
