What Happened: Shares of computer processor maker Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) jumped 5.2% in the afternoon session after Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh upgraded the stock's rating from Neutral to Buy and raised the price target from $37 to $50, citing Intel's promising product roadmap for 2024. The price target indicates a possible 16% upside from where shares were traded when the upgrade was announced.
Is now the time to buy Intel? Find out by reading the original article on StockStory.
What is the market telling us: Intel's shares are somewhat volatile and over the last year have had 13 moves greater than 5%. In context of that, today's move is indicating the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 21 days ago, when the stock gained 7.2% on the news that the company reported third quarter results that blew past analysts' revenue and EPS expectations. The Client Computing Group (CCG), which is the largest segment, outperformed revenue estimates by a wide margin. PC demand seems to be improving. We were also glad its operating margin improved. Lastly, the company's Q4 outlook was comfortably ahead. Zooming out, we think this was a great quarter that shareholders will appreciate, especially in light of some lackluster quarterly performance in the last year or two.
Following the impressive results, HSBC upgraded the stock's rating from Reduce (Sell) to Hold (Neutral) and raised the price target from $27 to $33, noting, "while concerns around data centre demand remains, improving PC demand and overall execution are incremental tailwinds."
Intel is up 61.3% since the beginning of the year. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Intel's shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $882.96.
