Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) Shares Down 3.6% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) dropped 3.6% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $40.68 and last traded at $41.11. Approximately 85,841,823 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 16% from the average daily volume of 101,650,672 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.63.

Intel News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Intel this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CES product wins — Intel’s Core Ultra Series 3 “Panther Lake” chips (first built on Intel’s 18A process) generated strong investor excitement, fueling big inflows, upgrades and bullish coverage that lifted the stock into a 52-week high last week. Forbes: Is Intel Stock’s Jump Yesterday Justified?
• Neutral Sentiment: Corporate cadence — Intel has a near-term calendar item (Q4 & full‑year 2025 results disclosure) and continuing post-CES volume/option activity that can amplify moves in either direction; fundamentals remain mixed (small recent net margin, modest revenue growth). BusinessWire: Intel to Report Q4 and FY2025 Results
• Negative Sentiment: Market skepticism and downgrades — some outlets and analysts are warning that Intel’s “future of AI” ambitions are bold but risky, and at least one outlet flagged a downgrade / cautious take that is weighing on sentiment today. TipRanks: “The Future of AI”: Bold Plans Send Intel Stock Crumbling
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst consensus tilt lower — some brokerage commentary and at least one published “Reduce”/downgrade theme is appearing across aggregator sites, adding selling pressure after the rally. AmericanBankingNews: Intel Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce”
• Negative Sentiment: Profit-taking and valuation questions — after a sharp year‑end/early‑January run, some investors are locking gains and revisiting margins, guidance and whether Intel can close the gap with NVIDIA/AMD on AI datacenter and discrete AI chips (shorter-term selling pressure). Seeking Alpha: Intel: A Series Of (Suspiciously) Fortunate Events (Rating Downgrade)

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Intel in a report on Friday, October 24th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on shares of Intel from $19.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Melius Research raised shares of Intel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday. Northland Securities upped their price objective on shares of Intel from $28.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Intel from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Hold rating and eight have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $35.88.

Intel Stock Down 3.6%

The firm has a market cap of $196.38 billion, a PE ratio of 4,115.12, a PEG ratio of 25.48 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $37.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.90.

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The chip maker reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter. Intel had a negative return on equity of 0.75% and a net margin of 0.37%.The firm had revenue of $13.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.46) earnings per share. Intel’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Intel has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.080-0.080 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Intel Corporation will post -0.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Intel

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Insight Advisors LLC PA grew its position in Intel by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Insight Advisors LLC PA now owns 58,521 shares of the chip maker’s stock worth $1,963,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. increased its stake in Intel by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. now owns 20,906 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $701,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the period. Integrated Advisors Network LLC raised its position in Intel by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 9,750 shares of the chip maker’s stock worth $327,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Intel by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 18,893 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $697,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WealthPlan Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Intel by 0.4% in the third quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 71,772 shares of the chip maker’s stock valued at $2,408,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.53% of the company’s stock.

About Intel

Intel Corporation, founded in 1968 by Robert Noyce and Gordon E. Moore and headquartered in Santa Clara, California, is a leading global designer and manufacturer of semiconductor products. The company is historically notable for introducing the first commercial microprocessor and for driving the x86 architecture that underpins many personal computers and servers. Intel’s core business spans the design, fabrication and marketing of processors, chipsets and related components for a wide range of computing applications.

Intel’s product portfolio includes client and mobile processors marketed under brands such as Intel Core and Pentium, as well as high-performance Xeon processors for data centers and cloud infrastructure.