Intel (INTC) is continuing its hot start to 2026, with shares now reaching a 20% rise over the past 30 days. Chip stocks are poised for more growth in 2026, and Intel is setting the tone as a potential new leader in the space, even outperforming Nvidia in the last few months. Intel shares were down 1.5% at $44.87 in morning trading on Monday, but the stock has risen 16% over the past five trading sessions.

Intel is up in part thanks to the company unveiling new processors and a social-media post from President Donald Trump praising Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan. Additionally, the near 7% surge in its stock price this month comes on the heels of a blockbuster earnings report that blew past analyst expectations. Revenue spiked by 15%, driven by robust demand for Intel’s data center solutions and AI accelerators.

Furthermore, Intel (INTC) is also up after the company launched its Panther Lake processor line at CES last week and picked up a bullish call from Wall Street. At the CES show in Las Vegas, Intel launched Panther Lake, its new laptop chip, as the first high-volume product made using its 18A process. Its successful partnership with Nvidia (NVDA) has also turned heads on Wall Street, with several top firms and analysts raising their INTC forecasts for the near future.

Susquehanna chip stock analyst Christopher Rolland raised his price target on Intel shares to $40 from $35 in a research note on Monday. The analyst’s call values Intel at a discount to its peers, and puts the company’s enterprise value at four times his estimate for the company’s sales, compared with a semiconductor industry median of 5.5 times. “We view this multiple as appropriate given PC and DC [data center] headwinds, historical valuation metrics, and large-cap peer valuations,” wrote Rolland, also rating the stock a “neutral.”

With a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 15—lower than peers like Nvidia at 40—Intel appears undervalued relative to its growth potential, per recent market data. This could mean room for appreciation, especially for those investors who choose to buy in before the growth kicks in further.