It might sound odd that chip stock Intel (INTC) is about to shell out some big money to expand its facilities in China, particularly after the Chinese government planned to rake it over the coals on spying charges. But invest it shall, and that was enough to send Intel shares up over 1.5% in Monday afternoon’s trading.
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Intel is putting a whopping $300 million into a chip packaging and testing operation in Chengdu, providing what a South China Morning Post report called “…a show of commitment to the mainland market….”
The new facility will have more capacity, the report noted, but will also set up a customer solutions center, which should have a positive effect on local supply chain matters as well as provide extra customer support in the Chinese market. This should also—according to remarks from Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger—offer a path forward for “stable growth” at Intel. It is easy to wonder what this will do to those allegations of spying that were leveled against Intel not long ago.
A Panther Lake Fix in the Making?
Meanwhile, reports from WCCFTech suggest that the Panther Lake lineup of Intel chips is seeing some troubling developments in terms of latency. And, in a bid to fix those issues, Intel is looking to try an experimental new process.
The WCCFTech report said that Intel will look to change up its Integrated Memory Controller (IMC) and its compute die, which should put a little extra spring in the step of Intel’s system-on-a-chip (SoC) processors. Intel plans to put the IMC and the compute die into the same package, though that plan may not stay in place for long. Apparently, the move is part of a “hit and trial” attempt, and when the Nova Lake lineup comes out, it may feature the IMC and the compute die separated once more.
Is Intel a Buy, Hold, or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on INTC stock based on one Buy, 26 Holds, and seven Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 34.4% loss in its share price over the past year, the average INTC price target of $25.21 per share implies 9.47% upside potential.
