The Nasdaq-100’s August 2025 Champion: This Stock Left Everything in the Dust
While Wall Street's usual suspects stumbled, one Nasdaq-100 stock defied gravity—and skeptics—with a blistering August rally.
Forget 'steady growth'—this was a moonshot. The kind of performance that makes hedge funds scramble to justify their 2-and-20 fees.
Tech's new alpha predator didn't just outperform—it rewrote the rulebook. Short sellers got steamrolled. Index funds lagged like dial-up internet. Even crypto maximalists paused their Bitcoin sermons to check the ticker.
Was it AI? Quantum? Some metaverse pivot? The answer might surprise you—or confirm your darkest suspicions about market irrationality.
One thing's certain: August's winner didn't just beat the index—it exposed how most 'diversified' portfolios are just expensive beta in disguise.
Image source: Getty Images.
Uncle Sam buys into Intel
The TRUMP administration gave Intel a helping hand on Aug. 23, setting up an $8.9 billion investment in Intel's stock. The U.S. government is now a large Intel investor, owning 9.9% of the company's shares. They were bought at $20.47 per share, roughly 18% below the market value on the day of the announcement.
The deal did not include rights to board seats or special government access to Intel's executives. It did include the option to buy another 5% stake through warrants, but only if Intel loses ownership of its chip manufacturing business within the next five years. Moreover, most of the financing is part of earlier government agreements, such as the CHIPS Act and the Secure Enclave program. The payments were simply accelerated.
How the government acquired these shares without visible dilution remains unexplained nearly three weeks later. How did the government build a 9.9% stake without diluting existing shareholders or purchasing on the open market? I don't know, but it happened -- somehow.
Intel's stock surge isn't as impressive as it looks
Intel's stock didn't skyrocket when the government deal was officially announced. Instead, it rose slowly as the unexpected and often contradictory details leaked out over several weeks.
The surge looks impressive in the short term, but loses power when you zoom out a bit. Investors don't see this government deal as a game-changer. Intel's stock dropped 11.6% in July due to an underwhelming earnings report, so it's up only 8.7% across July and August. It's also down 34.9% in two years, as of this writing on Sept. 11.
