Intel Stock Soars: Foundry Business Sparks $100 Price Targets

Intel's stock has experienced a powerful rally, climbing above $65 and marking a dramatic turnaround. This surge coincides with a wave of aggressive analyst upgrades that are challenging long-held bearish views on the company.

Leading the charge are new, street-high price targets, including $92 from Northland Securities and a $100 target from Melius Research. These targets are forcing investors to look beyond traditional metrics like PC sales.

The renewed optimism stems from a fundamental re-evaluation of Intel's core assets. Analysts and the market are beginning to see that Intel's true value may lie not just in the chips it designs, but in its massive, strategic manufacturing infrastructure.

This suggests the full financial impact of Intel's strategic transformation into a foundry powerhouse has yet to be fully priced into its current market valuation, creating the potential for significant upside.

This shift matters because it changes how Intel is valued. Analysts are increasingly using a Sum-of-the-Parts (SOTP) analysis, separating the legacy product business from the high-growth foundry arm. This method suggests Intel's physical factories are worth far more than their accounting book value.

In today's geopolitical climate, these fabs are seen as critical national infrastructure for supply chain security. This justifies applying a much higher multiple to their value, with some analysts tripling the value of Intel's property and equipment in their models.

The strategy is being validated by execution and partnerships. Intel completed its ambitious five-node-in-four-years roadmap, with its advanced 18A process now in high-volume manufacturing. Major customer wins, like an expanded partnership with Google Cloud for AI, prove the foundry is a revenue-generating reality.

Furthermore, partnerships with American leaders like SpaceX and Tesla on projects like the Terafab campus underscore rising demand for secure, domestic chip supply. This, combined with billions in CHIPS Act funding, solidifies Intel's position as a strategic national asset.

For investors, this means the thesis has shifted from short-term chip cycles to a long-term infrastructure play. The heavy capital spending and dividend suspension are strategic bets on building a durable, high-barrier business for decades to come, which is attracting 'smart money' institutional investment.