Intel Slips With Chip Peers as Server Demand Outstrips Supply
Published on 09/28/2026 at 09:20 | Editorial boerse-global.de
Intel shares ran into a broad-based semiconductor downdraft on Tuesday, with the stock shedding 3.2% in pre-market action to change hands at EUR 104.40. There was nothing in the company's own news flow to explain the retreat. The pressure came from Asia, where South Korean chipmakers led a sector-wide pullback as rising U.S. Treasury yields prompted investors to lock in profits — a reversal of fortunes for a group that had held up well on Wall Street just days earlier.
The move lands after a blistering stretch for chip equities. Sentiment had been jolted higher on September 22, when Meta Platforms unveiled its Muse AI assistant, a launch that Reuters reported rekindled appetite for technology names and lifted several semiconductor makers alongside Intel.
Even after the latest dip, Intel has still added 232% since the start of the year — a pause, rather than a reversal, in what has been a standout run.
Supply Can't Keep Pace With AI-Fueled Orders
The demand picture in data centers is far more striking than the share price suggests. Chief executive Lip-Bu Tan has said the company can currently fill only about half of customer orders for server CPUs. Hyperscalers and technology firms are racing to build out new server architectures for AI workloads, and Intel's production is not keeping up.
That imbalance has been a central driver of the stock's advance through most of the year. On the last trading day of the previous week, the shares eased 3.6% in European trading to close at EUR 107.90.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Intel?
Management is attacking the bottleneck on the manufacturing side. Speaking at a JPMorgan conference, Tan said yields on the company's 18A process node had improved by seven percentage points. Intel is also leaning on packaging technologies such as EMIB, which it markets as a cheaper alternative to established Asian production methods.
A Quarter of Two Halves
The top line tells one story and the bottom line another. Revenue climbed 25% year over year to $16.1 billion in the second quarter of 2026, and adjusted non-GAAP net income came in at $2.2 billion. Under GAAP, however, Intel booked a net loss of $11.0 billion — the result of a $12.5 billion mark-to-market charge on shares held in trust tied to U.S. CHIPS Act funding.
Longer term, the company is exploring silicon spin qubits, a bet aimed at eventually turning existing fabrication infrastructure toward quantum processors.
Analysts Warm Up, Valuation Stays Rich
Wall Street has turned more constructive in recent weeks. Barclays upgraded the stock to Overweight from Hold on September 16, according to media reports, and Melius Research reaffirmed its buy rating the same day with a $165 price target — a target the firm has since raised to $165 on the U.S. listing. Market watchers nonetheless flag a demanding multiple: the shares trade at more than 50 times expected 2026 earnings.
The upgrades were accompanied by tangible operational news. Intel said on September 16 that software optimizations had improved its results on MLPerf, the industry benchmark for AI inference. Five days later, Google brought new Googlebook laptops to market powered by Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processors, a launch Intel confirmed through its own channels.
Quiet Changes Off the Headlines
September also brought administrative shifts. On September 19, Intel discontinued its paid bug bounty program, which had offered rewards of up to $100,000 for disclosed vulnerabilities. The company replaced it with a reporting channel that carries no financial payout and gave no explanation for the change.
Separately, supply-chain sources cited in media reports say Intel is preparing roughly a 10% price increase on PC processors for early October. The company has not confirmed those plans.
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