Intel Corporation shares were trading higher in pre-market activity, up approximately 2.0% at $112.44, as investor sentiment remained elevated for a second session following a significant foundry-related development. The central driver behind the stock's rise is a reported firm order from Google (Alphabet) for in excess of 3 million tensor processing units to be manufactured for delivery in 2028. That contract followed months of tests of Intel's advanced packaging capabilities and was influenced in part by capacity limitations at TSMC.
Adding momentum to the narrative, Nvidia is reported to be reviewing whether Intel's 18A process coupled with Embedded Multi-die Interconnect Bridge - EMIB - packaging could be applied to produce a processor that integrates four graphics dies into a single package for its upcoming "Feynman" GPU architecture. The discussions with Nvidia remain evaluative at this stage, and no formal manufacturing order has been placed.
Analyst commentary has further supported investor appetite. A major analyst issued an updated rating this morning, supplementing a cluster of price-target increases earlier in the week from Wells Fargo - raised to $110, Barclays - raised to $100, and Mizuho - raised to $128. Those upward revisions were tied to accelerating AI data center demand and the expanding role of CPUs in agentic AI workloads, themes that analysts cite as driving greater wafer and packaging requirements.
Intel's CEO Lip-Bu Tan has highlighted the industry shift toward inference and agentic AI as materially increasing demand for the company's CPUs along with its wafer and advanced packaging offerings. That executive assessment aligns with the narrative that hyperscale AI deployments are changing component demand patterns within data centers.
Market conditions provided a constructive backdrop for the chipmaker. In pre-market trading, the NASDAQ was up about 0.9% and the S&P 500 had gained roughly 0.3%, signaling continued appetite for technology and AI-related stocks. Semiconductor peers largely participated in the positive session, reinforcing a sector-level tailwind that supported Intel's move.
Taken together, the confirmed Google foundry order - a substantive proof point that Intel's 18A manufacturing chain can attract hyperscale customers - Nvidia's ongoing technical evaluation, renewed analyst attention, and a supportive broad market have sustained buying pressure into the pre-market session. As a result, Intel remained above its prior close of $110.27 and traded near the upper end of an intraday range spanning $106.66 to $112.54.
Contextual note - The Google order is slated for 2028 delivery and reflects a multi-month testing period of Intel's advanced packaging. Nvidia's interest relates specifically to the potential use of Intel's 18A process and EMIB packaging to consolidate multiple graphics dies, but no binding commitment from Nvidia has been announced.