Intel Shares Rise 5% as Record April Rally Continues, Driven by Growing Demand for AI Technologies

Intel Shares Reach New Heights

Intel's stock price continued its upward trajectory on Friday, 1 May, as the company's shares jumped 5.45% to a fresh record high of $100.45 apiece. This significant surge marks the latest milestone in Intel's historic monthly rally, which has seen the company's shares rise by a staggering 114% in the past month.

This impressive performance has not only yielded handsome returns to investors but has also reignited the AI trade, sending the Nasdaq to multiple record peaks. As a result, Intel's market value has exceeded $490 billion, a testament to the company's resurgence in the market.

Intel's turnaround in 2026 can be attributed to the growing demand for its central processing units (CPUs) in data centres, which are increasingly being used to handle AI inference tasks. The four cloud-computing giants, often referred to as hyperscalers, have indicated that spending on artificial intelligence is unlikely to slow anytime soon, with their combined outlays now set to surpass $700 billion this year.

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Despite earlier concerns about heavy spending without near-term visibility on faster revenue growth, stronger margins, and higher cash flows, Intel's strong performance in Q1 has boosted investor confidence. The company reported first-quarter revenue of $13.58 billion, up 7.2% year-on-year, while adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.29, beating analysts' estimates.

Intel's gross margin stood at 41% on an adjusted basis, a testament to the company's efficiency. Buoyed by the strong performance, Intel issued a robust outlook for the second quarter, projecting revenue in the range of $13.8 billion to $14.8 billion, coming higher than analysts' estimates.

The upbeat guidance has signaled progress in Chief Executive Officer Lip-Bu Tan's turnaround strategy, aimed at positioning Intel to capitalise on the expanding artificial intelligence ecosystem. As AI systems grow more complex, customers are increasingly using Intel's Xeon server CPUs alongside GPU accelerators, with demand for server processors required to manage these workloads accelerating rapidly.

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Intel's partnership with SpaceX and Tesla on the recently launched Terafab project to build semiconductor capacity is also expected to drive growth. The initiative aims to deliver massive computing power, targeting around 1 terawatt of annual capacity.

After struggling for over 16 months and closing most passing months lower through June 2025, Intel's shares regained momentum in August with a sharp 23% surge. The rally only strengthened further in the following months, with the stock closing five out of the subsequent eight months in the green, delivering a cumulative surge of 377%. Taking today's high into account, the shares have recovered a massive 400% from June lows, indicating growing investor confidence in the company's long-term growth prospects.