Intel Shares Surge on AI-Driven Turnaround After Strong Q1 Results

On April 24 2026 Intel’s common stock rose 24-25 % in pre-market trading, its largest single-day gain since October 1987. The jump followed first-quarter earnings that exceeded expectations and signaled a revival of the chipmaker’s role in the expanding artificial-intelligence (AI) hardware market.

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After seven consecutive quarters of revenue decline, Intel began a turnaround in early 2025 when veteran executive Lip-Bu Tan became CEO. Tan’s agenda included repairing the balance sheet, securing a $5 billion investment from Nvidia, and leveraging roughly $11 billion in U.S. government funding for domestic chip production. Partnerships with Nvidia, Tesla and SoftBank have positioned Intel as a U.S.-based supplier of leading-edge AI-optimized CPUs.

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Revenue reached $13.58 billion, up 7.2 % YoY and above the $12.42 billion consensus forecast. Earnings per share were $0.29, far above the $0.01 estimate. Operating margin rose 500 basis points and net debt fell $17 billion. The stock closed at $82.57 after the rally, though an early-day report listed $67. Year-to-date, shares are up 124 %.

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Evercore ISI raised its price target to $111, citing Intel’s restored balance sheet and its capacity to meet “the fastest-growing AI workloads” with new CPUs. Citigroup upgraded the rating to “buy” and lifted its target to $95, emphasizing Intel’s status as the only U.S.-based leading-edge chipmaker and its alliances with the federal government, Nvidia and Tesla.

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• “The fastest growing AI workloads need a lot more [central processing units] … [and] INTC's new CEO fixed the balance sheet, and is executing on a strategy that appears to have put INTC back on the competitive track.” — Evercore ISI analysts

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• “It has been easy to not like INTC… but three things have changed,” — Mark Lipacis, Evercore analyst

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• “Improving agentic AI driven CPU demand … should lift all the CPU suppliers' sales in the coming years,” — Atif Malik, Citi analyst

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• “up from their prior expectations of only slight growth six months ago, with unit growth being the primary driver and [average selling prices] benefiting from higher core counts,” — Atif Malik, Citi analyst

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Sources differ on the post-surge closing price ($82.57 vs. $67 reported early Friday). Analyst price targets also vary ($111 vs. $95), and the consensus EPS estimate of $0.01 contrasts sharply with Intel’s reported $0.29, indicating a gap between market expectations and actual performance. Citi projects double-digit CPU revenue growth for 2026 and expects the trend to continue into 2027. Intel’s roadmap includes next-generation AI-optimized processors and deeper collaborations with government and industry partners, positioning the company for ongoing participation in the expanding AI hardware market.

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