Intel shareholders would probably rather forget 2024. This year is off to a better start. 

Shares of the chipmaker are rising today 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:alongside broader markets, leaving them up more than 8% in January, outpacing the S&P 500. That doesn’t change what’s in the rear-view mirror—Intel (INTC) is still off more than 50ꦓ% over the past 12 months—but the signs of lif🌼e are notable nonetheless. 

Investors may be buying into signs of change in the wake of the retirement of CEO Pat Gelsinger 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:late last year. One such development, which helped lift the stock this week: news that the company plans to make its venture fund a stand-alone entity, with the company remaining an investor. 

“This step supports our broader strategy to maximize the value of our assets while driving greater focus and efficiency across the business,” interim co-CEO David Zinser said of the de🎶cision. 

Meanwhile, news services circulated a report from a tech newsletter indicating that Intel might be a takeover target. A sale of Intel, currently valued at nearly $85 billion per Visible Alpha, would be a huge deal, but 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:similar narratives have driveಌn interest in the stock in recent months.

Analysts Not Ready To Suggest Intel is a 'Buy'

Intel is slated to report its latest quarterly financial results later this month, and investors will surely be watching that announcement and the conference call that follows for clues about how else management might seek to execute that plan. 

Wall Street analysts are in wait-and-see mode for now. Visible Alpha doesn’t track a single one with a “buy”🐷 rating on the shares—it mostly logs “hold” rating✨s, with a few “sell” labels—though the share-price rise implied by the mean price target is more than 20% from recent levels. 

Deutsche Bank analysts reiterated a “hold” rating earlier ꦡthis week. “With the company in a transitory position strategically and cyclically, we e𒁏xpect shares to remain rangebound,” they wrote. 

Intel shares finished Friday up more than 9%.

Update: This article has been updated sin🏅ce it was first published to reflect new share-price information.