There seems to be more trouble at chipmaker Intel (INTC) as early word emerges about Arrow Lake sales. But Intel may have a plan to raise some cash, though investors are not particularly happy to hear about it. Intel shares are down over 3% in Thursday afternoon’s trading.
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A new report from Tom’s Hardware suggests that Germany’s largest PC hardware retailer, Mindfactory, is reporting sales for Intel that are little short of catastrophic. In fact, Mindfactory revealed that it has not sold a single Arrow Lake processor as yet. This is not a universal problem, however; both Amazon (AMZN) and Newegg have sold out completely.
For Intel, however, this is bad news; to have so few sales already is bad enough, but Intel only accounts for 5% of processors sold on Mindfactory. The other 95% is all AMD (AMD), which suggests that Intel has all but lost the German market. It does not help matters, meanwhile, that the Core Ultra 9 285K represents a step backward in performance, at least as far as gaming goes.
Network Assets For Sale?
While the reports of Intel’s lack of sales will do it few favors, it may be working on a bigger sale: its network assets division. Reports from Light Reading suggest that Intel may be looking to sell off those assets and may have a buyer in mind: Ericsson (ERIC).
While the idea of someone buying all of Intel seems a bit unlikely due to Intel’s sheer size, even in its somewhat debilitated state, the idea of one particular segment getting sold is much more reasonable. And with Nokia (NOK) moving to other chip suppliers, Ericsson may have a clear path to making such a move without raising regulatory ire.
Further, Intel’s push into Ohio is prompting change at community colleges, where classes are going on in fields specific to Intel. Intel has already been sharing information about how it makes chips and has been working with the schools to design curricula specifically for chip manufacturing at Intel, helping to ensure that Intel will have a workforce ready when the facilities go live.
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 seven Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 41.14% loss in its share price over the past year, the average INTC price target of $25.21 per share implies 16.66% upside potential.
