Chipmaker Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) caught a bit of a tail wind today, and shares gained over 1.5% in Tuesday afternoon’s trading. New analyst coverage, coupled with new reports about Intel chips, gave investors reason to smile, and they piled in as a result.
One bit of unexpected news came out about the Lunar Lake laptop line that was set to emerge, and it was quite the eyebrow-raiser among PC users. Apparently, with the Lunar Lake line, users won’t be able to upgrade their RAM. That may sound odd, but most PC users already aren’t swapping out their RAM anyway. This may not, however, be as bad of news as some envision.
The word is that the Lunar Lake line of laptops will come with its RAM directly soldered to the motherboard itself. That means the RAM chips can’t be removed and thus can’t be replaced. If they can’t be removed or replaced, upgrades are off the table. But with the new kind of RAM, users get a more energy-efficient laptop that boasts a longer battery life and a smaller overall laptop size. Thus, flexibility is sacrificed for a better overall experience.
Analyst Praise and Core Ultra 9 Processors
The analyst coverage, meanwhile, came from Melius Research, where four-star analyst Ben Reitzes delivered a point we caught up on yesterday. Reitzes noted that Intel hadn’t done a lot with artificial intelligence so far this year but stands a good chance of launching a catch-up operation in the second half. Further, Reitzes expects Recall AI—a system that works a lot like System Restore—to prove to be a substantial driver of demand.
It’s worth noting that, so far, Reitzes has enjoyed a 57% success rate on his ratings, with an average return of 13.8% per rating.
Finally, there’s word that the Core Ultra 9 processors at Intel will keep their graphics processor unit (GPU) intact. There won’t be any Core Ultra 9 F processors, which were typically used by budget-conscious PC buyers looking to save a few bucks. This was especially true for gamers who preferred a dedicated GPU to begin with. Thankfully, the savings weren’t really substantial—just $20 to $30 off a $500 purchase, reports note—but with the economy shaky, that loss may be more acutely felt.
Is Intel a Buy, Sell, or Hold?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on INTC stock based on three Buys, 25 Holds, and three Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 6.91% rally in its share price over the past year, the average INTC price target of $38.02 per share implies 10.39% upside potential.
