Intel breaks out of its high-end consolidation range as the AI chip battle heats up

Last Thursday (June 18), $Intel (INTC.US)$ Intel's stock closed up sharply by 10.64% at $133.99, setting another all-time high. After nearly a month of consolidation near its peak, Intel broke out of its trading range on Friday, bringing its year-to-date gain to over 300%. Once viewed by the market as a 'fallen king,' this semiconductor giant is regaining Wall Street’s trust through a series of strategic breakthroughs.

Apple Orders Ignite Market Hopes for Foundry Business

On June 18, former U.S. President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that $Apple (AAPL.US)$ Apple has agreed to collaborate with Intel to design and manufacture chips in the United States. Following the announcement, Intel’s shares jumped about 9% in pre-market trading and ultimately closed up 10.64%. The Wall Street Journal had reported as early as May that after more than a year of negotiations, the two companies had reached a preliminary agreement on producing certain chips. [1]

The market sees this as a major signal that Intel’s foundry business has received critical customer validation. For Apple, amid $Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM.US)$ capacity increasingly being squeezed by $NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$ 、 $Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.US)$ AI chip clients like NVIDIA, adding a U.S.-based supply source helps diversify its supply chain risk. For Intel, after $Tesla (TSLA.US)$ the announcement that NVIDIA will adopt its next-generation 14A process, securing Apple orders would further broaden its customer base.

18A-P has entered risk production, with the technology roadmap continuing to advance

Strong expectations for foundry orders are not the only factor supporting the stock price. At the VLSI (Very-Large-Scale Integration) Symposium on June 16, Intel announced that its next-generation18A-P process nodehas entered risk production, offering up to a 9% performance improvement over the standard 18A node. [2] CEO Lip-Bu Tan recently acknowledged in the No Priors podcast interview that Intel’s most advanced 18A process has reached the 1.4-nanometer class and that the company is already planning for 1-nanometer and 0.7-nanometer nodes. [3]

In advanced packaging, Intel is actively promoting its next-generationEMIB (Embedded Multi-die Interconnect Bridge)technology and has announced collaborative advanced packaging manufacturing initiatives in India and New Mexico, USA. The company recently appointed $SK Hynix (000660.KR)$ former CEO Sewon Lee as Executive Vice President of the Foundry Business Group, focusing specifically on driving volume production of advanced packaging technologies. [3]

The role of the CPU (Central Processing Unit) is being redefined in the AI era

With the rapid adoption of Agentic AI, data centers are experiencing renewed growth in CPU demand. In his Computex keynote speech, Lip-Bu Tan stated that future AI infrastructure will enter an era of heterogeneous computing, characterized by collaborative development among CPUs, GPUs (Graphics Processing Units), ASICs (Application-Specific Integrated Circuits), and custom chips. [4]

Wall Street research firm Melius Research recently raised Intel's price target from $100 to $150, noting that 'surging data center CPU demand and continuously improving profit outlook for its 18A advanced chip process' are jointly fueling a super-bull narrative for Intel. [5] According to Bloomberg-aggregated analyst consensus estimates, Intel’s Data Center and AI business revenue for Q2 is expected to reach $5.45 billion, up 38% year-over-year.

Samsung Bloomberg Global Semiconductor ETF (3132 HK): Capture Intel’s recovery while achieving globally diversified semiconductor exposure

Intel is $Samsung Bloomberg Global Semiconductor ETF (03132.HK)$ one of the holdings, with a weighting of approximately 3.98% as of June 17, 2026, ranking among the top 10 holdings. The ETF holds 20 global semiconductor leaders, with the top five holdings including $Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM.US)$ （14.41%）、 $Broadcom (AVGO.US)$ (12.44%）、 $NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$ （12.119%）、 $Micron Technology (MU.US)$ (9.41%) and $Samsung Electronics (005930.KR)$ (8.6%), providing full coverage across the global semiconductor value chain—from chip design, manufacturing, and memory to equipment.

Intel’s stock breakout appears to confirm broad market recognition of a semiconductor industry recovery—spanning AI chips (NVIDIA, Broadcom), advanced foundry services (Taiwan Semiconductor), memory chips (Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron), and CPU and foundry businesses (Intel). The entire supply chain may be entering a new phase of structural growth. For investors seeking to capture the full breadth of the global semiconductor recovery, $Samsung Bloomberg Global Semiconductor ETF (03132.HK)$ this ETF offers a convenient one-click solution to gain exposure to leading global semiconductor companies.

Source: Bloomberg, as of June 22, 2026

Samsung Asset Management (Hong Kong), as of June 16, 2026

[1] Gate News (June 20, 2026)

[2] Intel Newsroom (6/16/2026)

[3] Wall Street News (19/6/2026)

[4] Intel Newsroom (6/2/2026)

[5] Sina Finance (5/20/2026)

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