We know that chip stock Intel (INTC) has been frantically searching for investment just about anywhere it can find it. From the government to competitors, nearly anyone who has cash they can commit to Intel is pretty much welcome at this point. But one of Intel’s biggest competitors, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSM), is not on that list. And, more oddly still, Intel investors seem unhappy about this. Intel shares were down over 2% in Monday afternoon’s trading.
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A recent Wall Street Journal report noted that Intel once reached out to TSMC looking to start up a joint venture with the fabricator. However, TSMC took issue with that report, saying that such a contact never happened. In fact, reports note, this is not the first time that Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor have been spotted together. But Taiwan Semiconductor has refuted all such reports so far.
It is a safe bet that Taiwan Semiconductor is not interested in working with a potential competitor like Intel, which a chipmaker with its own fabrication processes would be. Throw in the growing concerns about Intel’s market picture, which has been in decline in several key market sectors, and these all suggest potential reasons why Taiwan Semiconductor seems steadfast in its refusal to work with Intel.
A Hefty New Server Chip
Meanwhile, reports note that a new server chip may be making its way out from Intel, and one that has some solid infrastructure to back it up. The chip, called Granite Rapids-WS, was recently revealed as an engineering sample that offered up a hefty 86 cores and 172 threads. Peak core speed was set around 4.8 GHz, though that suggests more of a few boosted cores than a complete picture.
Reports note that the Granite Rapids-WS is built using XCC server compute dies, including a pair of I/O tiles for connectivity. But the early reports are incomplete, too; power figures and other measures have not been included in the listing, reports note. Thus, it would be a fair plan to not look for this on shelves by Christmas.
Is Intel a Buy, Hold or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on INTC stock based on two Buys, 27 Holds and four Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 51.32% rally in its share price over the past year, the average INTC price target of $26.18 per share implies 24.73% downside risk.
