Intel Stock Pops Aftermarket On New CEO Appointment: Retail Turns Bullish

Shares of Intel Corp. (INTC) surged by more than 10% in Wednesday’s after-hours trading session as the company appointed a new CEO, lifting retail sentiment.

Lip-Bu Tan, former CEO of Cadence Design Systems, will take over the reins of Intel from interim CEOs David Zinsner and MJ Holthaus. Tan was on Intel’s board till last year, when he departed citing other commitments.

Tan is Intel’s fourth full-time CEO in seven years, after Brian Krzanich, Bob Swan, and Pat Gelsinger. While Krzanich resigned over having a workplace relationship in breach of company policy, Swan and Gelsinger left after failing to overcome the issues troubling the company.

“Intel plays an essential role in the technology ecosystem, both in the U.S. and around the world. And, together, I’m confident we can turn our business around,” Tan said, adding that Intel will be an engineering-focused company under his leadership.

Tan’s appointment as Intel CEO comes at a critical time for the iconic chipmaker. It is in the middle of discussions about having its foundry business taken over by peers like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC).

TSMC is reportedly in talks with peers like Nvidia Corp. (NVDA), Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD), and Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) to come together for a joint venture to take over Intel’s foundry business.

According to Intel's latest update, its foundry business had a book value of $108 billion as of Dec. 31, 2024.

Analysts at Wells Fargo called Tan’s appointment a positive move for Intel, according to The Fly. The brokerage reiterated its ‘Equal Weight’ rating and a price target of $25 for the stock, implying an upside of nearly 21% from Wednesday’s closing price.

Retail users on Stocktwits have received Tan’s appointment positively – a poll with over 1,100 votes shows that 71% of the users who participated think Tan is the right leader to turn around Intel’s fortunes, while only 9% think otherwise.

Investor sentiment on the platform has also soared, entering the ‘bullish’ (56/100) territory from ‘bearish’ (33/100) a day ago. Message volumes witnessed a 369% spike.

INTC sentiment and message volume March 12, 2025, as of 9 pm ET | Source: Stocktwits

One user thinks the Intel stock could rally to $28 over the next week.

Intel’s stock has gained over 3% year-to-date but has lost more than 54% of its value over the past year.

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