Intel Stock Rally Picks Up Pace On Rumors Of Apple Lifeline — Retail Traders Brace For Further Gains

Intel Corp.’s (INTC) shares rose 6.41% in Wednesday’s regular session, and added 2.2% in extended trading on the prospects of the chipmaker getting another lifeline — this time from Apple, Inc. (AAPL).

Intel has held talks with Apple regarding a potential investment by the Tim Cook-led company, as well as a collaboration between the two parties, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The report cautioned that the talks were in an early stage and may not come to fruition. The struggling chipmaker has also reportedly sent feelers to other companies regarding potential investments.

Incidentally, Apple was a longtime Intel customer before transitioning to in-house chip development, beginning in 2020. The Tim Cook-led company also bought most of Intel’s modem chip business in 2019.

Following the surfacing of the rumor, the Intel stock drew heavy retail chatter on Stocktwits, with the 24-hour message volume leading up to late Wednesday nearly doubling. Signaling increased interest in the stock in recent times, the seven-day message volume change has jumped almost 300%.

Retail sentiment toward the Intel stock tempered slightly to ‘bullish’ (73/100) as of late Wednesday from ‘extremely bullish’ a day ago.

One bullish Intel watcher on the platform noted that Intel stock has formed a cup-and-handle formation on a weekly chart, suggesting it could reach $40 following the Apple news. Some even eyed the $45 level.

Another user foresees more external investments in Intel, including from Tesla, at the behest of the U.S. government, given that most companies use chips.

After bottoming out in early August, Intel’s stock has had a strong rebound, thanks to SoftBank (SFTBY) agreeing to invest $2 billion and the Trump administration taking a 10% stake. Last week, the stock gap opened sharply higher after the company confirmed that artificial intelligence (AI) stalwart Nvidia (NVDA) was investing $5 billion in it. Nvidia will collaborate with Intel on chips designed for personal computers and data centers.

Intel’s stock has gained nearly 56% year-to-date as the company has made concerted efforts under new CEO Lip-Bu Tan to turn around its fortunes. The company’s fundamentals have declined over the years due to product missteps, execution issues, and a lack of flexibility to embrace new technologies.

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