BofA sees ‘more questions than answers’ in Intel financial engineering update

After Intel (INTC) announced and expanded collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AMZN) on a custom AI fabric chip and custom Xeon server CPU chip, $3B in U.S. government CHIPS funding for government chips, plans to establish Intel Foundry as an independent subsidiary, a pause in certain investments in Poland and Germany, and a reshuffling of segment reporting, BofA notes that there was no new financial model provided, that it is unclear if the Foundry move means anything beyond a different reporting structure nor were there any updates on success of the critical 18A manufacturing node. The AWS win “sounds impressive,” but Intel has already been supplying AWS with CPUs for a long time, so customization isn’t exactly something new, says BofA. The AI fabric win on 18A will probably matter only from calendar year 2026 while competing against tough Ethernet switch incumbency from Broadcom (AVGO) and others, adds the analyst, who keeps an Underperform rating and $21 price target on Intel shares.