New York—May 5, 2026, 11:12 EDT
Intel Corp. shares shot up as much as 14% Tuesday morning, climbing to $110.43 on news of potential chip manufacturing talks with Apple that could bring production to Intel’s U.S. factories. The stock last traded at $109.18, with volume above 92 million shares. Business Insider flagged the spike as a record high for Intel.
Intel’s push to remake itself hinges on foundries—chip plants serving outside clients. The company has lacked a cornerstone customer in this space. That’s where Apple comes in. If Apple signs on, Intel could boost its challenge to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Samsung Electronics in advanced chipmaking.
Bloomberg News says Apple sounded out Intel and Samsung about making its main processors in the U.S., Reuters reported. Those preliminary talks didn’t turn into any orders, and Apple is still cautious about moving away from TSMC tech for mass production.
Intel finds itself in a new phase, with more on the table than its turnaround narrative. First-quarter revenue, reported April 23, hit $13.6 billion—up 7%. Non-GAAP earnings showed 29 cents a share. Looking ahead, Intel projects second-quarter revenue between $13.8 billion and $14.8 billion. (Non-GAAP excludes certain costs.) CEO Lip-Bu Tan cited AI’s “next wave” reaching end users. CFO David Zinsner described the current appetite for silicon as “unprecedented.” Intel Corporation
Intel’s Data Center and AI division—DCAI in the company’s own lingo—drew investor focus. Revenue for the segment jumped 22% to $5.1 billion, according to the prepared remarks. ASIC sales, those made-to-order chips, nearly doubled year-over-year. The company’s Xeon 6 chips got the nod as CPUs for Nvidia’s DGX Rubin NVL8 systems, marking a notable design win. Intel Foundry posted $5.4 billion in revenue; external foundry work chipped in just $174 million, while the unit logged a $2.4 billion operating loss.
Trefis described Intel’s strategy as a shift away from AI training, zeroing in on inference—where the AI model actually gets put to work, handling real-world tasks or answering prompts. For Intel, it’s a crucial focus. CPUs are essential for coordinating those processes. As AI agents move beyond just generating text, expanding into files, web tasks, and application workflows, Intel’s hardware stands to gain importance.
A few analysts aren’t dismissing the Apple news as just another headline to chase. Barron’s highlighted comments from Ben Bajarin at Creative Strategies and Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy, both pointing out Apple is well beyond early-stage talks. Moorhead even called the discussions “much more than exploration.” Barron’s
Politics is in the mix here. Trump claimed on Truth Social that the U.S. made $45 billion from an Intel investment. The numbers from Intel’s August agreement with the administration suggest otherwise: government bought 433.3 million shares at $20.47—that’s a 9.9% passive holding, largely underwritten by CHIPS Act and Secure Enclave funds.
Chip shares jumped, though Intel easily stole the show. The PHLX Semiconductor Index finished up 3.1% on Tuesday, MarketWatch reported. Intel surged 12.5% after talk surfaced linking it to Apple suppliers—a move that landed it squarely among the session’s most prominent large-cap movers in semis.
Even so, plans have a way of unraveling. Apple talks might go nowhere, and those nagging foundry losses are still a thorn in Intel’s side. Bears of Wall Street over on Seeking Alpha didn’t budge from their Sell call, setting Intel’s intrinsic value at $20.11. According to their note, Intel’s rally looks detached from its margin struggles and hefty capex—pointing directly at the ongoing foundry headaches.
That leaves Intel facing an even steeper climb. Investors want more than talk—customer contracts on the books, better yields from its cutting-edge fabs, and a clearer, faster path to cutting foundry losses. Apple’s interest alone no longer moves the needle; what counts now is Intel landing volume orders, shipping chips, and turning those into revenue and margins that hold up.
