For anyone who has ever tried, and failed, to build a PC, this one is for you. Chip stock Intel (INTC) wants it to be a much simpler process to build a PC, as well as to replace components when they need to be replaced instead of simply buying new entire PCs. The idea has some merit, but investors were deeply concerned, and shares slid nearly 2% in Thursday afternoon’s trading.
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A report from Phoronix notes that Intel wants a modular PC, as a way to address several key issues. With a modular PC design, there is less electronic waste, also known as e-waste, and PCs become significantly more repairable in the process. It would also serve as a way to support the “right to repair” concept, which asserts people who own things should be allowed to repair them by not making components inaccessible to everyone who does not have special equipment.
Beyond that, it would also help Intel’s business considerably, as upgrading a PC would become a much simpler matter. Imagine just being able to plug in a new chip and have it be ready to go. Consider that with new RAM or hard drives, and things only get that much better.
18A Backers Start Up
As for Intel’s 18A process, which former CEO Pat Gelsinger once called a “bet the company” play, a lot of investors are watching this one to see where it goes. And the good news, for anyone who is watching, is that 18A is starting to bear fruit. Intel Foundry has landed some new defense-sector clients for the 18A process, noted a report from TechTarget.
Both Trusted Semiconductor Solutions and Reliable MicroSystems have turned to 18A, noted the report, calling on Intel to manufacture chips as part of the Rapid Assured Microelectronics Prototypes – Commercial (RAMP-C) project. RAMP-C has been a thing since 2021, and both of these clients will look to Intel to make chips for a variety of systems, ranging from “radiation-hardened microelectronics” to electronics that “…model and mitigate radiation effects.”
Is Intel a Buy, Hold or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on INTC stock based on one Buy, 21 Holds and four Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 55.69% loss in its share price over the past year, the average INTC price target of $24.42 per share implies 13.9% upside potential.
