Quick overview

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Intel now has a market capitalization of $650 billion and ranks among the world’s 20 largest companies.

Over the past year, the company has massively outperformed the S&P 500 and other major stock indexes, becoming one of the market’s top-performing stocks. The main drivers behind the rally have been the arrival of a new CEO and a strategic overhaul that is pushing the chipmaker back toward industry leadership.

From its late-July 2025 low to today, Intel shares — including its Argentine Cedears — have surged 570% in dollar terms. Year-to-date alone, the stock is up roughly 230%, while gains over the past month exceed 103%.

As a result, Intel’s market capitalization has climbed to $650 billion, compared to less than $90 billion in mid-2025.

Why Intel shares are soaring

Several factors explain the dramatic rally: a stronger-than-expected operational recovery, the artificial intelligence boom, strategic agreements with major tech companies, and strong support from the U.S. government.

The most recent catalyst was news of a preliminary agreement between Intel and Apple to manufacture chips designed by the iPhone maker.

According to reports published this week, the deal would allow Apple to diversify suppliers and reduce its dependence on TSMC, while giving Intel a massive new customer for its foundry business. Following the news, Intel shares jumped nearly 15% in a single session.

Investors have also welcomed the strategic shift led by new CEO Lip-Bu Tan, who took over in 2025. Market participants see Tan as an executive with a proven track record of successful restructurings in the tech industry and believe he can restore Intel’s competitiveness against rivals such as NVIDIA and AMD.

A stronger business outlook

Intel’s financial results have also improved significantly. In the first quarter of 2026, the company surprised Wall Street with earnings and revenue above expectations. Its data center business grew 22% year-over-year, driven by demand for AI-related infrastructure.

The company has also started to reestablish itself as a relevant player in CPUs for AI applications, an area where it had lost ground to Nvidia.

Another key factor is political and industrial support from the United States. Washington has launched multi-billion-dollar initiatives to strengthen domestic semiconductor manufacturing, making Intel a central part of that strategy.

The U.S. government even acquired a stake of nearly 10% in the company in an effort to revitalize domestic production of advanced chips.

In addition, Intel has secured new customers for its foundry division, including companies tied to cloud computing, defense, and artificial intelligence. The market increasingly believes Intel could finally compete with TSMC in advanced manufacturing — something that seemed highly unlikely just two years ago.

For these reasons, Intel’s bullish momentum could continue, potentially pushing the company into the exclusive trillion-dollar market capitalization club.