It was a great day for chip stock Intel (INTC), one of the first such great days in a while. In fact, Intel was up over 5% in Tuesday afternoon’s trading, thanks largely to news about its next desktop processor.
Reports noted that Intel will use the Nova Lake processor for desktops. Meanwhile, the Panther Lake processor will be used for mobile devices. Originally, reports suggested that Panther Lake would be the desktop weapon of choice.
Anything can still change between here and there, of course, as the processors aren’t even set to arrive until sometime in 2025 anyway. But considering there are some reports that Arrow Lake will get a new, refreshed version coming out—with the Nova Lake line instead becoming the artificial intelligence (AI) PC weapon of choice—the whole process is still, at least somewhat, up in the air.
The Competition Keeps Mounting
Intel will need all the processor power it can muster, especially in the face of growing competition. One of the biggest new sources of that competition is AMD (AMD), which has always been a part of the market but is now gaining a larger share. In fact, AMD recently recorded the highest share of the server market that it has ever seen.
While Intel is pushing back by gaining ground in the client PC market, AMD has been making gains elsewhere. It recently added 3.8% in a year-over-year comparison in the laptop market and now holds 24.1% of the server market. It actually managed to pull 5.6% of Intel’s market in the server space, which makes it a growing threat to Intel.
Is Intel a Buy, Hold, or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on INTC stock based on one Buy, 25 Holds, and five Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 41.86% loss in its share price over the past year, the average INTC price target of $27.82 per share implies 36.77% upside potential.
