Intel Stock (NASDAQ:INTC) Soars as Apple Ditches Chip Support—Wall Street Shrugs, Then Chases
Intel''s shares rocket upward as Apple finally axes legacy Mac support—because nothing pumps a stock like a competitor''s abandonment. The market''s knee-jerk rally proves yet again that tech investors thrive on schadenfreude.
Silicon Valley''s favorite one-sided breakup plays out once more: Intel gains billions in market cap while Apple''s ecosystem marches forward. The irony? Intel''s ''win'' comes from losing its last foothold in Cupertino.
Bonus finance jab: Traders celebrate the news like it''s 1999—throwing money at a legacy chipmaker while AI startups eat everyone''s lunch.
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The reports noted that MacOS Tahoe will be the last version of MacOS to offer support for Macs that use Intel processors. This includes several older MacBook Pro, iMac and Mac Pro models, and those who have these computers will still be able to enjoy the updates made available with the launch of Tahoe later on. However, there is one caveat: Apple Intelligence will not be made available to those computers. Apple Intelligence requires Apple processors to run, reports note.
The loss of Apple as a customer for some desktop hardware was not exactly unexpected. Apple has been working to migrate from Intel to its own processors for the last five years, reports noted, but Apple promised to support Intel processors “…for years to come.” Five years later, that promise seems to have been kept, and is reaching its end accordingly.
Brighter Days
So what in the world sent Intel rocketing up? There was some good news out for Intel along with the bad news, The entire chip sector got something of a boost from talks with China in the trade field, giving Intel a bit of a “halo effect” boost. Reports noted that “…hopes that the talks between the U.S. and China will result in looser export restrictions” helped fuel Intel’s impressive gains today.
And, Intel also benefited from moves at the Department of Defense, which says that the DoD is likely to offer up “…operational technology-specific zero trust guidance,” according to Intel’s federal chief technology officer. The MOVE will provide guidance on specific cybersecurity protections to implement in a bid to maintain military systems, including things like weapons systems, sensor arrays, and shipyard systems, among others.
Is Intel a Buy, Hold or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on INTC stock based on one Buy, 26 Holds and four Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 33.76% loss in its share price over the past year, the average INTC price target of $21.29 per share implies 3.88% downside risk.
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