Why Intel Stock Hit an All-Time High Today

2 hours ago 19

Intel shares surged to a new all-time high on April 24 after investors received the clearest sign yet that the company may finally be benefiting from the AI boom.

The stock jumped more than 24% to around $83 in early trading, passing its dot-com-era peak from 2000 and lifting Intel’s market value above $416 billion.

The rally followed stronger-than-expected earnings and guidance that suggested demand for Intel’s server CPUs is rising faster than Wall Street expected.

AI Demand Is Moving Back Toward CPUs

The main driver is a shift in AI infrastructure. The first phase of the AI boom centered on GPUs, led by Nvidia.

Now, more AI models are moving from training to deployment, where CPUs play a larger role.

Intel said demand from AI service providers was so strong in the first quarter that it sold chips it had previously written off.

CFO David Zinsner said tight supply also allowed the company to raise prices and sell older inventory it had not expected to move.

That changed the market’s view of Intel. Investors are starting to see the company as a direct beneficiary of AI inference, where models answer user queries and handle more complex workloads.

Intel stock just surged 28% in a single day, hitting its highest level since the dot-com era.

> Intel was the punching bag of the semiconductor sector for years. Left for dead. The stock traded around $19 a year ago.

> Tonight it's trading above $83. Up 100% this year. Up 224%… pic.twitter.com/bqhLFAOoeD

— Jeremy (@Jeremybtc) April 24, 2026

Earnings Gave the Rally Fuel

Intel reported first-quarter revenue of $13.58 billion, above estimates of $12.42 billion. Its data center and AI segment generated $5.1 billion, also ahead of expectations.

Guidance mattered even more. Intel expects second-quarter revenue between $13.8 billion and $14.8 billion, compared with Wall Street’s $13.07 billion estimate.

Analysts responded quickly. At least 23 brokerages raised their price targets after the results, with HSBC pointing to demand for Intel’s Xeon server CPUs.

$INTC IS UP NEARLY 30% TODAY

I don’t think people realize how wild it is that customers are paying full price for end-of-life inventory Intel had already written off.

That only happens when customers are so capacity-constrained that they will take any available CPU regardless… pic.twitter.com/iwtI1cTP9Z

— Shay Boloor (@StockSavvyShay) April 24, 2026

Can the Rally Continue?

The rally can continue if Intel proves this demand is durable. The Tesla 14A manufacturing deal and growing AI CPU demand give investors a stronger turnaround story.

Still, the stock now trades at around 90 times forward earnings, far above AMD and Nvidia. That leaves little room for disappointment.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Tesla plans to use Intel’s $INTC 14A process for its large-scale “Terafab,” calling it the right move as the node matures. He wants memory, logic, masks, and packaging under one roof for faster chip iteration.

— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) April 22, 2026

Intel has momentum. To keep it, the company must show that today’s surge was the start of sustained AI-driven growth, not a one-quarter inventory and pricing boost.

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