Intel (Intel (INTC)) shares rose 2.6% in premarket trading Wednesday, as investors looked for a rebound after the stock pulled back from its spring highs. The broader market was mixed — Nasdaq futures were up 0.1%, S&P 500 futures down 0.1% — so Intel's move seems to be about company-specific news rather than a rising tide lifting all boats.

That news came from CEO Lip-Bu Tan, who spoke Tuesday about the company's strategy and the booming demand for its chips. Tan made it clear that Intel isn't looking to pick a fight with its biggest manufacturing partner. He called Taiwan Semiconductor (Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM)) a "very trusted partnership" and said Intel will continue relying on the foundry for advanced chip production. He also described Nvidia (Nvidia (NVDA)) as "a good friend."

Tan's comments come at a time when Intel is trying to turn around its own foundry business, but he's taking a pragmatic approach: the industry is big enough for collaboration. "In the last four weeks, I have had all CEOs calling me, [saying]: 'I need more CPU,'" Tan said, according to the Taipei Times. That demand is being fueled by the rapid growth of agentic AI — AI systems that can act autonomously — which requires a lot of processing power.

Technical Setup Remains Bullish

Intel shares have been on a tear, surging nearly 432% over the past 12 months. The stock has been consolidating recently, but traders seem to think this is just a pause in the rally, not the start of a deeper decline.

The technical picture supports that view. Intel's 20-day simple moving average is still above its 50-day moving average, and the 50-day is above the 200-day. The golden cross that formed in August 2025 remains intact. The stock is trading 34.2% above its 50-day moving average and 127.9% above its 200-day moving average — that's a lot of distance, but it shows the trend is strong.

Near-term momentum has cooled a bit. Intel is 1.9% below its 20-day simple moving average of $116.26, but it's close to its 20-day exponential moving average of $110.45. Traders often watch this area as a key decision point. The relative strength index is at 52.3, which is neutral — not overbought, not oversold.

Key resistance is around $133, near the stock's 52-week high of $132.75. On the downside, support is around $102.50.

Intel Earnings Outlook

The next big catalyst is Intel's earnings report, expected on July 23, 2026. Wall Street is looking for earnings of $0.19 per share, compared to a loss of $0.10 per share a year ago. Revenue is projected to rise to $14.4 billion from $12.86 billion.

Analysts are cautious but not bearish. The consensus rating is Hold, with an average price target of $80.31 — well below the current price, but that average includes some old ratings. Recent analyst actions have been more upbeat:

• Barclays maintained Equal-Weight and raised its price target to $100 on June 1.
• Wells Fargo maintained Equal-Weight and raised its target to $110 on June 1.
• Mizuho maintained Neutral and raised its target to $128 on June 1.

Those targets are closer to where the stock is trading now, suggesting analysts see limited upside from here — but they're also not running for the exits.

Intel Price Action

Intel shares were up 2.73% at $110.88 in premarket trading Wednesday, according to market data.