Intel (Intel) surged more than 7% on Wednesday (29th), and its cumulative increase of more than 25% so far this month is expected to hit the largest increase in 22 years. The company announced on the same day that the new server chip products will be released earlier than expected, hoping to reverse the current situation in which the market share of key products continues to be eroded by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).
Intel talked regarding the development roadmap of the data center in the investor meeting, and some of the products are ahead of schedule.
According to Sandra Rivera, head of the data center and artificial intelligence group, Sierra Forest, the first energy-saving chip designed for data center customers, is in the stage of sending samples to customers and is scheduled to be delivered in the first half of 2024.
Earlier delays in Sapphire Rapids, Intel’s most powerful fourth-generation Xeon processor for data centers, gave AMD time to catch up. According to Rivera, the fifth-generation Xeon processor Emerald Rapids is scheduled to be delivered by the end of this year, and the next-generation Granite Rapids is in customer testing and will be delivered the next year following the release of Sierra Forest.
Rivera also predicted that the next generation of energy-saving chips, Clearwater Forest, will be available in 2025. This chip will be manufactured with the 18A process node that Intel plans to achieve leadership. The company named the process nodes less than 2 nanometers Intel 20A and Intel 18A.
Christopher Rolland, an analyst at SIG Susquehanna Financial Group, believes that Clearwater Forest chips are the most important progress, representing that Intel has reached their predetermined roadmap, even ahead of schedule. He earlier this month raised his rating on Intel Capital to neutral from negative, with a price target of $26.
Intel (INTC-US) rose 7.6% to $31.52 per share. The broader semiconductor market also rallied following Micron’s forecast showed the worst may be over,Philadelphia SemiconductorThe index rose 3.3%, with AMD (AMD-US) rose 1.6 percent to $96.09 a share, while Micron (MU-US) rose 7.2 percent to $63.54 a share.
This has extended Intel’s month-to-date gain to 25.7%, putting it on track for its best monthly gain since November 2001, when it rose 33.7%.fee halfUp 6% so far this month,Dow Jonesdown 0.2%,S&P 500 Indexrose by 1%.
The server field is one of Intel’s most profitable areas, but market share is going to AMD, and some customers, including Amazon Web Services, have begun to manufacture their own products to replace Intel chips, which has become a challenge. According to statistics from research firm IDC, Intel’s market share in personal computers (PCs) and server processing chips, although still leading with more than 70 percent, has declined from more than 90 percent in 2017.
What other analysts think
Intel’s push into the data center business is especially important at a time when generative artificial intelligence (AI) might boost demand for new chips. Rivera believes that the turning point of large-scale language models has arrived, which will drive the demand for accelerated computing.
Everscore ISI’s CJ Muse and other analysts said that the progress of Intel’s announced roadmap is encouraging, although execution risks still exist, and they maintain a rating equal to the broader market with a target price of $30.
Other analysts were skeptical. Stacy Rasgon of Berstein said that the fact that the situation does not get worse is not a victory, and that Intel is too optimistic regarding the total addressable market (TAM). She maintained her underperform rating and $20 price target.
