Key facts
- Intel stock rose nearly 6% in pre-market trading.
- CEO Lip-Bu Tan launched the Xeon 6 Plus processor at Computex 2026.
- The new processor is built on the 18A process node and targets AI data center workloads.
- Mizuho, Wells Fargo, and Barclays raised their price targets on Intel.
- Tan described Taiwan Semiconductor as a 'trusted partner' and Nvidia as 'a good friend'.
Intel's stock experienced a significant surge of nearly 6% in pre-market trading, reaching $114.27, following its CEO Lip-Bu Tan's keynote address at Computex 2026 in Taipei. During the event, Intel officially launched its new Xeon 6 Plus processor, which is built on the company's advanced 18A process node and features up to 288 E-cores. This new processor is specifically designed to address high-density AI inference and agentic workloads within data centers, with Tan emphasizing a strong demand for CPUs from various CEOs. The product announcement was met with positive analyst sentiment, as Mizuho, Wells Fargo, and Barclays all increased their price targets for Intel stock, reflecting growing confidence in the company's AI infrastructure strategy. Despite these upgrades, the overall analyst consensus remains a 'Hold' with an average price target of $80.31. Intel also announced rackscale AI infrastructure partnerships with SambaNova and Foxconn, and a new enterprise inference cloud called Vector Core Compute, which will utilize Intel Xeon chips alongside Nvidia GPUs. CEO Tan strategically framed the competitive landscape, referring to Taiwan Semiconductor as a 'very trusted partnership' and Nvidia as 'a good friend,' positioning Intel as a collaborator in the AI buildout. The stock's technical picture shows a strong upward trend over the past 12 months, with its 50-day moving average above its 200-day moving average. The next key event for investors is Intel's earnings report scheduled for July 23, 2026, where Wall Street anticipates earnings per share of $0.19 and revenue of $14.4 billion.