Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC) stock rose more than 3% Wednesday as chip stocks benefited from strength across the technology sector.
The Nasdaq gained 0.78%, while the S&P 500 rose 0.51%. Technology led all 11 sectors with a 0.97% gain.
Intel has also maintained strong longer-term momentum. The stock has gained about 256% over the past 12 months.
Intel Foundry Gains Ground
Meanwhile, Intel's foundry business could benefit as artificial intelligence chip customers look for more manufacturing and advanced packaging options beyond Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. (NYSE:TSM).
Counterpoint Research said Intel Foundry revenue rose 31% year over year in the second quarter. That marked the strongest growth among non-memory integrated device manufacturers.
Counterpoint Senior Analyst William Li said Intel and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (OTC:SSNLF) are benefiting as chip customers seek additional supply sources.
Intel has also gained traction in advanced packaging. Alphabet Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Google adopted Intel's EMIB-T packaging technology for its next-generation tensor processing unit, according to Counterpoint.
AI Packaging Could Open Another Growth Avenue
Advanced packaging has become increasingly important as AI accelerators combine multiple compute and memory components.
Counterpoint highlighted Intel's EMIB packaging technology, along with its ZAM and XBM memory architectures, as potential alternatives to Taiwan Semiconductor's CoWoS platform.
That could give Intel another path into the AI supply chain as customers seek greater manufacturing diversity and additional packaging capacity.
Still, execution will remain critical. Taiwan Semiconductor continues to hold advantages in scale, production yields and advanced packaging capabilities.
Technical Analysis
Intel remains above its major moving averages.
The stock is about 9.9% above its 20-day simple moving average of $108.72 and about 48.6% above its 200-day SMA of $80.35.
The 20-day SMA remains above the 50-day SMA, while the 50-day SMA is above the 200-day SMA. That structure points to an established uptrend.
Momentum indicators also remain constructive. The MACD is above its signal line, while the histogram is positive.
Intel is trading closer to the upper end of its 52-week range, which has a high of $142.35.
Resistance sits near $142, just below the 52-week high. Support is near $98.50, close to the psychologically important $100 level.
Earnings And Analyst Outlook
Intel's next earnings report is estimated for Oct. 22, 2026.
Wall Street expects earnings of 39 cents per share, up from 23 cents a year earlier. Revenue is estimated at $16.41 billion, compared with $13.65 billion a year earlier.
Intel carries a Hold consensus rating with an average price forecast of $114. The forecasts range from $80 to $155 across 50 analysts.
TD Cowen maintained a Hold rating and a $115 price forecast on Sept. 24. Tigress Financial maintained a Buy rating and raised its forecast to $145 on Sept. 15. Piper Sandler initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and a $110 forecast on Sept. 10.
Benzinga Edge Rankings
Intel has a Benzinga Edge Momentum score of 98.95, reflecting strong relative price performance.
The Benzinga Edge scorecard currently highlights momentum as the stock's key measurable strength.
ETF Exposure
Intel is held by several semiconductor-focused ETFs, including the iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXX), Invesco Semiconductors ETF (NYSE:PSI) and State Street SPDR NYSE Technology ETF (NYSE:XNTK).
Intel represents about 5.68% of SOXX, 5.71% of PSI and 5.98% of XNTK. As a result, flows into or out of these ETFs can contribute to trading activity in Intel shares.
Price Action
Intel shares were up 3.08% at $119.50 at the time of publication Wednesday, according to Benzinga Pro data.