Intel's Packaging Progress Points to Google AI Chip Deal

Tigress Financial reiterated its Buy rating on Intel and raised its price target to $145 from $118 on September 15, citing the company's Terafab partnership with companies associated with Elon Musk, including SpaceX, Tesla, and xAI, as a strategic boost to its AI foundry ambitions. The initiative is part of an ambitious semiconductor manufacturing project focused on producing advanced chips for artificial intelligence, robotics, autonomous vehicles, and other compute-intensive applications. Intel said in its second-quarter earnings report that it remains well positioned to pursue sustainable growth through advanced packaging and its wafer foundry network, pointing to momentum in Physical AI and robotics with more than 130 customers testing its Core Ultra Series 3 and Core Series 3 processors for edge AI and robotics applications. The partnership's commercial terms, production volumes, and potential revenue contribution have not been fully disclosed, and the principal risk is that it could strengthen Intel's strategic position in foundry manufacturing without generating meaningful financial returns for several years. According to the Insider Monkey database, 138 hedge funds held stakes in Intel at the end of the second quarter, up from 112 funds in the first quarter, with SoftBank Group Corp. and Coatue Management among the notable institutional holders at approximately $12.14 billion and $1.68 billion, respectively, while roughly 152.25 million Intel shares were sold short as of August 31, representing about 3.02% of the public float.