This is not the kind of news we get every day for chip stock Intel (INTC), so we should probably just be glad it is here. Not to put too fine a point on it, the Battlemage graphics processing unit, otherwise known as the Arc B580, is selling at a pace best described as “frantic.” This news did not sit well with investors, though, who sent shares down nearly 2% in Wednesday afternoon’s trading.
Pick the best stocks and maximize your portfolio:
- Discover top-rated stocks from highly ranked analysts with Analyst Top Stocks!
- Easily identify outperforming stocks and invest smarter with Top Smart Score Stocks
“Frantic” might be the best word, too. A report from The Verge notes that Intel’s new card is selling out in many places, and Intel is working to get new shipments out on a weekly basis. Multiple reviews have come out around the Battlemage already, and the report called it “…nigh-universal praise.”
The reports, however, note that Intel might have had a bit of right place / right time mojo working on its behalf here. Both Nvidia (NVDA) and AMD (AMD) released graphics cards this year, and both did not win a lot of fans. And this was after years of GPU prices that were “more inflated than inflation itself” as more and more users speculated on cryptocurrency mining.
Not All Peaches and Cream
As is so often the case, though, there is a dark cloud to every silver lining, and HPC Wire spelled that out. Based on consultation of the “data-center product roadmap update,” Intel has serious issues right now. The loss of CEO Pat Gelsinger has left the co-CEOs on the back foot, attempting to “learn…the Xeon product line.” Meanwhile, the Gaudi chips are considered “…a weak AI entry product.”
A Phoronix news item, though, gave a little more hope. A kernel graphics driver update will offer a better look at “engine busyness.” Previously, there had been “race conditions and bugs” that cropped up therein, but with the update, better metrics will be on hand. “Engine busyness” is a metric used in scheduling computing resources. Thus, having a better understanding of engine busyness should result in better computing productivity, which is crucial for large-scale operations.
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 five Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 56.3% loss in its share price over the past year, the average INTC price target of $24.53 per share implies 23.08% upside potential.
