Intel Corp. received an Outperform rating from Northland Securities' Gus Richard, who set a $120 price target on the chipmaker after a nearly 20 percent five-day rally driven by AI supply chain capacity and pricing power. The upgrade highlights Intel's role in the $120 billion Terafab project backed by SpaceX and Tesla.
Northland Securities analyst Gus Richard upgraded Intel Corp. to Outperform from Market Perform, setting a $120 target implying 14.59 percent upside from the current share price.
"The analyst expects Intel's turnaround and Terafab relationship to strengthen its foundry business and support outperformance," Northland Securities said in its research note.
The upgrade follows a nearly 20 percent rally in INTC shares over five trading days through Sept. 8, driven by Intel's pricing power and growing capacity in the AI supply chain. At $104.72, the stock trades below the $116.31 average 12-month target across 31 analysts surveyed by TipRanks over the past three months. Individual targets range from $80 to $200.
Richard based his bullish thesis on Intel's major capital allocations, long-term valuation targets, and structural capacity spending. The company's strategic alignment with the Terafab project, jointly backed by SpaceX and Tesla, anchors the foundry expansion story. Terafab is expected to command $55 billion in initial Phase 1 capital investment and roughly $120 billion in total build-out costs through the late 2030s.
Richard expects Intel to benefit from server CPU shortages as geopolitical uncertainty between China and Taiwan persists over the next 18 months. The firm also anticipates a 10 percent CPU price hike supporting Intel's revenue growth. Intel's market capitalization stands at roughly $506.4 billion, with shares up more than 165 percent year-to-date.
The upgrade positions Intel as a direct beneficiary of the AI infrastructure build-out, with the foundry business expected to gain scale through the Terafab partnership. The $120 target signals confidence in Intel's turnaround trajectory as AI-driven demand reshapes the semiconductor supply chain. Investors will watch whether the anticipated 10 percent CPU price hike materializes and how Terafab's phased build-out progresses through the late 2030s.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
