Intel is reportedly in early-stage talks with Apple to seek investment and deepen collaboration, according to people familiar with the matter. Although a deal is not yet guaranteed, the news sparked a strong market reaction.
Intel’s stock price rose 6.41% on September 24, closing at $31.22 per share, boosting its market capitalization to $1.458 trillion. The company’s shares have surged more than 40% since mid-August and are up roughly 54% year-to-date, reflecting growing investor confidence.
This optimism follows a series of major investments totaling $15.9 billion in Intel, including $8.9 billion from the U.S. federal government, $5 billion from NVIDIA, and $2 billion from SoftBank. Notably, NVIDIA’s investment, finalized on September 18, involves acquiring Intel common shares at $23.28 per share, potentially giving it a stake of 4% or more post-transaction.
Beyond financial backing, Intel and NVIDIA have agreed on a strategic cooperation plan. Intel will develop custom x86 CPUs for NVIDIA’s data center AI infrastructure, and produce x86 SoCs integrated with NVIDIA RTX GPUs for personal computing devices. The collaboration, however, does not include Intel acting as a foundry for NVIDIA.
ICgoodFind : Intel’s growing backing from key industry players underscores market confidence, and a potential partnership with Apple could significantly accelerate its strategic turnaround.
