This week is a fairly big one for chip stock Intel (INTC), as it took to the stage at the Computex 2025 show. And it also offered up some good news about release dates for its chip line, noting that the Panther Lake chips are set to emerge. There were other interesting developments as well, but in the end, Intel stock slipped modestly in Monday afternoon’s trading.
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First, there was the good news: Panther Lake chips will start manufacturing in this year’s second half. And there were also plans that the following version, Nova Lake, would be out on time. Good news, but Intel then tainted the pool just a bit by noting that Panther Lake would not be a socketed desktop component.
Not great, but still; Intel also put on some demonstration of “validation platforms,” which amounts to entire PCs built using the chip in question. The chip itself, without a PC around it, was also put on display. Panther Lake specifications have not yet been released, though new reports note that the chip will run an integrated graphics processing unit (GPU). Which GPU, however, is as yet unclear. We will likely hear more about that the closer we get to a full launch. Panther Lake is likely to stay as a mobile processor, while Nova Lake steps up for the desktop field.
Seizing the Data Center Market
Word from new CEO Lip-Bu Tan, meanwhile, should be bolstering some hopes at Intel, as Intel now holds 55% of the data center market. This is actually a welcome report, as Intel, back in February, revealed that its data center central processing unit (CPU) sales were the lowest that had been seen in 13 years. For Intel to make a comeback like that is a welcome development.
Moreover, it also reflects a move made in late April, in which Intel moved to establish a group specifically geared toward CPUs in data centers. The Data Center Group, now a standalone from the Data Center and AI Group, is intended to focus solely in this sector, and help intel get out of the issue we just mentioned: cratering sales in the data center sector.
Is Intel a Buy, Hold or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on INTC stock based on one Buy, 25 Holds and four Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 32.52% loss in its share price over the past year, the average INTC price target of $21.22 per share implies 0.93% downside risk.
