For anyone who has been considering a new computer purchase, considering one with an Intel (INTC) processor is a natural choice. But maybe you will want to pass up the Granite Rapids processor, as these come with a $17,800 price tag.
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The Granite Rapids processor comes with that staggering price tag—reportedly the new “high pricing watermark” for Intel. Granite Rapids, the new Xeon 6980P, comes with 128 high-performance cores. That works out to $139 per core, though it can reach speeds of up to 3.9 GHz.
That was not all Intel had to show off recently. Early tests of the Lunar Lake lineup, particularly the Core Ultra 7 GPU, are set to deliver a potentially big win for handheld gaming platforms. The Lunar Lake processor proved to be significantly faster than the Steam Deck’s custom processor, and that could mean a potentially huge win ahead. However, there are some issues with Lunar Lake, particularly its compatibility with Arc drivers, according to a TechRadar report.
When Buybacks Don’t Work
There is one further point that is bedeviling Intel right now: its recent share buyback plan. Intel was known for share buybacks at one point, a move that not surprisingly endeared it to shareholders. Share buybacks reduce the amount of available stock for purchase, and often increases share prices on what is left to buy.
But in Intel’s case, it often prioritized buybacks over investment, and that left it on the back foot as competitors like Nvidia (NVDA) came along and brought out powerful new tools that Intel simply could not compete with. Over 15 years, Intel put $108 billion into share buybacks, a move that worked in the short run, but now may have hurt it in the longer term.
Is Intel a Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on INTC stock based on one Buy, 26 Holds and seven Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. The average INTC price target of $25.47 per share implies 14.88% upside potential.
