r/stocks Mar 13, 12:47 PM
Intel (INTC) back near $45 after a sharp drop. Is this the turnaround entry? Intel (INTC) closed at $45.25 on March 12, down 5.69%, before bouncing slightly after hours to $45.68 (+0.43). The move ended a short winning streak and left the stock about 17% below its 52 week high of $54.60 reached earlier this year.
Interestingly, the drop happened during a broader market selloff, but Intel fell harder than most of its semiconductor peers. Nvidia was down about 1.55%, Broadcom 1.64%, and Qualcomm 2.21% the same day.
From a fundamentals perspective, Intel is still in the middle of a huge turnaround attempt.
The company reported $52.9 billion in full year revenue for 2025, roughly flat year over year. Fourth quarter revenue came in around $13.7 billion, but profitability remains weak with GAAP EPS around -$0.06 for the year.
Management also guided Q1 2026 revenue to $11.7B to $12.7B with break even or slightly negative EPS, which disappointed investors and triggered selling earlier this year.
So why are some investors still bullish?
Intel is trying to reinvent itself in two major ways.
First is AI and data center chips. Demand for AI processors is growing quickly across cloud infrastructure and enterprise computing. Intel wants to compete with companies like Nvidia and AMD in that space.
Second is the Intel Foundry strategy, where Intel manufactures chips for other companies. Management is targeting break even margins in the foundry business by 2027, which could eventually turn Intel into a competitor to TSMC.
There are also some unusual factors in Intel’s story. In 2025 the US government bought roughly a 9.9% stake in the company, showing how strategically important domestic chip manufacturing has become.
From a trading perspective, the chart is interesting right now.
Key levels many traders are watching:
Support around $44 to $45
Resistance around $50
52 week high $54.60
Intel is basically sitting in the middle of a huge narrative battle right now.
Bulls believe the AI cycle and the foundry business could eventually bring Intel back as a major semiconductor leader. Bears argue the turnaround is slow and competitors like Nvidia and AMD are already far ahead in AI chips.
So the real question is simple.
At around $45, is Intel a long term turnaround opportunity, or just a legacy chip company struggling to keep up with the AI boom?
Not financial advice.
submitted by /u/NoahReed14
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