On Jan. 9, 2026, investors weighed Trump’s “national champion” nod alongside Intel’s 1.8 nanometer CPU momentum.
Today’s Change
(10.90%) $4.48
Current Price
$45.59
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$196B
Day’s Range
$41.58 – $45.73
52wk Range
$17.66 – $45.73
Volume
6.2M
Avg Vol
90M
Gross Margin
35.58%
Intel (INTC +10.90%), designer and manufacturer of microprocessors and related semiconductor products, rose 10.8% to $45.55 on Friday. Intel IPO’d in 1980 and has grown 13,893% since going public. Trading volume reached 182.5 million shares, doubling its three-month average of 91 million.
Friday’s move followed comments from President Trump praising Intel and CEO Lip-Bu Tan.
How the markets moved today
The S&P 500 added 0.64% to finish at 6,966, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.81% to close at 23,671. Within the semiconductor industry, peers Advanced Micro Devices slipped 0.74% and Nvidia slid 0.12%, underscoring Intel’s outperformance as investors digest the ever-shifting semiconductor landscape amid AI’s rise to prominence.
What this means for investors
Just a couple days after announcing at CES that it had shipped the first of its next-gen Core Ultra Series 3 processors, Intel and its CEO received positive comments from President Trump, stating, “The United States Government is proud to be a shareholder of Intel.” The government’s initial $9 billion investment in Intel has now more than doubled since being purchased in August 2024.
In addition to this backing from the U.S. government, Intel also received a $5 billion investment from Nvidia late last year, making the former an even more enticing turnaround stock. That said, Intel is already a $200 billion company and is yet to return to positive free cash flows, so it still has a lot to prove as it shifts toward serving the booming AI market.
Josh Kohn-Lindquist has positions in Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Intel, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.