Key Points
- Intel’s stock gained 84% in 2025 as investors bet on a turnaround.
- The company’s data center business is expected to have grown by over 30% in the fourth quarter.
- Intel is still facing challenges in the PC market, and with its new 18A manufacturing process.
- A series of high-profile investments from Nvidia and SoftBank have boosted the company’s balance sheet.
Intel shareholders are feeling more optimistic than they have in a long time. They are betting that the turnaround promised by new CEO Lip-Bu Tan is finally taking hold and that the global AI boom will fuel strong demand for the company’s traditional server chips. Intel’s stock soared 84% in 2025, a massive comeback after a disastrous 2024.
The company is set to report its fourth-quarter results on Thursday, and expectations are high. A series of high-profile investments last year, including $5 billion from Nvidia and $2 billion from SoftBank, have given the company a much-needed cash infusion. This has allowed Tan to start overhauling the company’s manufacturing and AI strategy.
The biggest reason for the optimism is the explosion in data center construction. Big tech companies are building out massive facilities to power their AI ambitions, and these facilities need a lot of Intel’s server chips and, for work in data centers, the more glamorous GPUs from Nvidia. As a result, analysts are expecting Intel’s data center business to have jumped by more than 30% in the fourth quarter.
However, Intel still has a long way to go. The company has been losing market share in the PC business to rivals like AMD and Arm, and a global shortage of memory chips could make laptops more expensive, further dampening demand.
The company’s new “Panther Lake” PC chips, the first made with its make-or-break 18A manufacturing technology, could help. Intel is also hoping to attract new customers for its foundry business, and it has reportedly been running tests with Nvidia and Broadcom. But yields on the new 18A process are still low, putting pressure on the company’s profit margins.
For now, though, the bulls are in charge. They are betting that Lip-Bu Tan can right the ship and that the AI tide will lift all boats, including the old giant of the chip industry.
