Intel (INTC) Stock Jumps 9% After Rare Double Upgrade From Bank of America

TLDR

• Bank of America analyst Vivek Arya double-upgraded Intel from Underperform to Buy, raising the price target 41% to $135
• The upgrade is driven by agentic AI tailwinds expected to grow the server CPU market to over $170 billion by 2030
• Intel’s foundry business is seen as a second growth driver, with potential customers including Apple and MediaTek
• Intel stock opened at $116.96 on Friday, up 9.27%, off a 52-week high of $132.75
• Intel reported Q1 EPS of $0.29, crushing the $0.01 consensus estimate, with revenue of $13.58 billion

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Intel (INTC) stock jumped 9.27% on Friday after Bank of America issued one of the more eye-catching analyst calls of the year — a double upgrade from Underperform straight to Buy.

Intel Corporation, INTC

The stock opened at $116.96, not far off its 52-week high of $132.75. A year ago, the same stock was trading near its 52-week low of $18.97. That’s a 463% run.

Analyst Vivek Arya also raised his price target by nearly 41%, from $96 to $135. That’s a big swing from a firm that was previously bearish on the name.

Arya’s core argument is straightforward: agentic AI changes the CPU math. Unlike traditional AI that responds to prompts, agentic AI plans, decides, and executes tasks — and that workload leans heavily on CPUs.

Bank of America now sees the server CPU market growing to more than $170 billion by 2030, up from its prior estimate of $125 billion. Intel, the firm says, could take roughly 25% of that — over $40 billion in server CPU sales alone.

That revised market view also pushed Arya’s earnings forecast higher. He now expects Intel to generate more than $6 per share in earnings by 2030, up from a prior estimate of $3 to $4.

Foundry Business Gets a Second Look

The upgrade wasn’t just a CPU story. Arya also pointed to Intel Foundry as an underappreciated growth driver.

He flagged potential customers including Apple, MediaTek, and other ARM-based chip firms. A recent partnership with Cadence Design Systems was also cited as a catalyst that could bring more business to the foundry.

Another piece of the bull case: Intel is surprisingly under-owned. Despite a market cap now approaching $588 billion, only 16% of S&P 500 funds hold the stock. Arya sees that as a setup for more buying if investor confidence keeps building.

Intel isn’t alone in getting bullish analyst attention lately. Oppenheimer started coverage with an Outperform rating. HSBC upgraded to Buy and lifted its target to $95. Melius Research has a $150 price target on the stock.

On the institutional side, Xponance LLC increased its Intel stake by 8.1% in Q4, picking up 51,482 additional shares bringing its total to 683,676 worth approximately $25.2 million.

Strong Q1 Earnings Added Fuel

Intel’s earnings earlier this quarter didn’t hurt the story either.

The company reported Q1 EPS of $0.29 versus a consensus estimate of just $0.01 — a beat of $0.28. Revenue came in at $13.58 billion, ahead of the $12.32 billion analysts expected, and up 7.4% year over year.

Intel set Q2 2026 EPS guidance at $0.20. Full-year analysts’ consensus sits at $0.63 per share.

Wall Street’s overall consensus on INTC remains a Hold, based on 11 Buys, 25 Holds, and 2 Sells over the past three months. The average price target of $91.44 sits well below where the stock is currently trading.

One item to watch: EVP April Miller Boise sold 40,256 shares on May 1st at an average price of $99.53, reducing her position by 27.70%.