Shares in both Intel (INTC) and Nvidia (NVDA) stock climbed to end last week after the former’s latest earnings report signaled expected chip shortages. The shortage could spark the value of NVDA Blackwell chips and Intel Core processing chips. On Friday, both shares climbed by as much as 3%, with other AI-related stocks like IBM and AMD also climbing.
“Our stronger-than-expected Q3 results mark our fourth consecutive quarter of improved execution and reflect the underlying strength of our core markets,” Intel CEO said in a release. “Current demand is outpacing supply, a trend we expect will persist into 2026.” In a phone interview with Barron’s, Zinsner added that demand for PCs has been stronger than the company expected, as corporations are upgrading computers. While it will be tough for companies like Intel and Nvidia to meet that demand, fulfilling such demand would mean far more value in their stocks.
“The Windows refresh is happening more significantly than I think we expected,” Zinsner said on Intel’s earnings call. “The shortage is pretty much across our business.”
The fourth quarter results of the Intel stock earnings report were low, despite good results in the first quarter of the year, showing that the company has lower performance than the analyst estimates. Intel cut EPS to $0.08 against expectations of $0.10, and revenue would also be 13.3 billion against forecasts of 13.4 billion.
Also Read: Intel Stock Surges on Q3 Earnings Beat and Rising AI Opportunities
Management attributed the guidance failure to the fact that Altera revenue was not included, a semiconductor company that Intel partially divested in the third quarter. These high-profile investments have helped support the Intel stock price movements in the recent past. In late August, the U.S. government became a 9.9% stakeholder, with Nvidia investing 5 billion to gain a 4% stake, and SoftBank has also put money into the chipmaker.
On Friday, Benchmark analyst Cody Acree reaffirmed his Buy rating and $50 price target on Intel (INTC). The analyst credits the Windows 11 upgrade cycle and balance sheet improvement after the capital raises. Meanwhile, the Traders Union recently projected Nvidia stock to reach a high of $688 in the next five years. That’s an uptick and return on investment (ROI) of approximately 280% by 2030. Both NVDA and INTC are leading the charge in AI stocks, although others like IBM and AMD aren’t far behind.
