Intel (INTC) shares are extending gains on April 9 after the semiconductor company announced an extended, multi-year partnership with Alphabet's (GOOG) (GOOGL) Google to advance next-gen AI and cloud infrastructure.
As investors cheered this announcement on Thursday morning, INTC’s relative strength index (14-day) climbed into the mid-70s, indicating overbought conditions that often precede a pullback.
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Still, long-term investors have ample reasons to buy Intel stock today, even though it’s already up about 50% versus the start of this year.
www.barchart.comWhat Extended Partnership Means for Intel Stock
The deepened collaboration with Google is largely bullish for INTC shares as it cements the firm’s Xeon CPUs and Infrastructure Processing Units (IPUs) as the bedrock of modern, heterogeneous AI systems.
Unlike pure GPU plays, this deal focuses mostly on the critical role of the CPU in orchestration and data processing for complex artificial intelligence workloads.
By aligning across multiple generations of Xeon processors, Google is effectively guaranteeing long-term volume orders, providing Intel with high-visibility revenue.
All in all, this partnership proves that even in an AI era dominated by accelerators, INTC’s silicon remains indispensable for scaling global cloud infrastructure and improving total cost of ownership.
Wells Fargo Issues Bullish Note on INTC Shares
Intel’s multi-billion-dollar partnerships with renowned names, including billionaire Elon Musk’s companies, aren’t going unnoticed across Wall Street.
On Thursday, Wells Fargo Senior Analyst Aaron Rakers raised his price target on Intel shares, citing improved execution in the Data Center and AI (DCAI) segment.
Rakers is increasingly optimistic about INTC’s structural turnaround and the successful ramp of its 18A process technology.
In his research note, the analyst highlighted that Intel is capturing a larger share of the server CPU market as enterprise demand shifts toward hybrid AI compute.
How Wall Street Recommends Playing Intel Corp
Wall Street firms more broadly are beginning to see Intel’s ongoing rally as backed by fundamental improvements in its competitive positioning as well.
While the consensus rating on INTC stock remains at a “Hold,” analysts’ price targets now go as high as $70, indicating potential upside of another 15% from current levels.
www.barchart.com On the date of publication, Wajeeh Khan did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
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