Why Jim Cramer Is All-In on Intel’s CPU Comeback Alex Sirois Wed, October 7, 2026 at 10:45 AM EDT 5 min read INTC +1.16% NVDA -0.84% ^GSPC -0.60% SPY -0.60% Explore stocks on Coinbase Trading disclosure Trading disclosure The above button links to Coinbase. Yahoo Finance is not a broker-dealer or investment adviser and does not offer securities or cryptocurrencies for sale or facilitate trading. Coinbase pays us for certain activity generated through this link. Prices displayed are informational.
Intel's Q2 Data Center revenue surged 59% to $6 billion as demand for server CPUs continues to outpace the company's growing supply.
NVIDIA invested $5 billion into Intel while INTC has outpaced the S&P 500 by nearly 190 percentage points over the past year.
Intel Foundry lost $2 billion last quarter with no named external customers, and 14A chip production won't begin until late 2027.
Building a portfolio and living off one are two completely different skills, and almost nobody teaches the second. This problem is what The Definitive Guide to Retirement Income helps, and it is free today. Read more here. (Sponsor)
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) trades at $112.50. Jim Cramer's view that its CPU business is coming back now has hard numbers behind it, after a 204.88% year-to-date run.
Intel designs the x86 processors inside most PCs and many data center servers. It also runs its own chip factories (a foundry network). Cramer has argued that Wall Street is rotating toward companies that supply AI tools, and he named Intel as one that benefits from the spending cycle (Cramer comments). Intel's own results support that view. AI-driven businesses grew greater than 70% and made up approximately 70% of revenue last quarter.
Q2 revenue rose 25.4% to $16.13 billion, beating the $14.45 billion estimate. Non-GAAP EPS came in at $0.42 against a $0.22 consensus. Data Center and AI revenue climbed 59% to $6.26 billion. Management said "strong demand for our products continues to outpace our growing supply."
Optimists argue that AI agents need general-purpose CPUs. Intel put the CPU-to-GPU ratio at "almost in parity". The factories are performing too: 18A output ran approximately 25% above target. NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) invested $5.0 billion and SoftBank invested $2.0 billion. The PEG ratio stands at 0.501.
Many successful investors eventually reach the same moment. The saving is done, the portfolio is built, and the question quietly changes from how much can I grow this to how much can I take out? Get that second question wrong and decades of good investing can come apart in a handful of years.
That is exactly what The Definitive Guide to Retirement Income helps answer. It covers what your retirement could actually cost, which income sources are worth using, and the withdrawal math that decides whether the money lasts. It is free today from Fisher Investments. Read More Here ›
Bears point to a GAAP loss of $2.16 per share, driven by a $12.53 billion CHIPS Act escrow charge. Intel Foundry lost $2.1 billion while bringing in just $293 million from outside customers. The stock commands a forward earnings multiple of 63.
Spending is also rising fast. Capex will top $20 billion this year and climb significantly in 2027. Intel expects the PC market to fall low double digits percent in 2026. With a beta of 2.23, any stumble would hit the stock hard.
The market may have already priced in the return. Q3 EPS guidance of $0.38 trails Q2. No external 18A or 14A customers have been named yet. Risk production on 14A is set for the second half of 2027. If named foundry customers sign on, the optimistic story strengthens. If Foundry losses grow, the pessimistic story strengthens.
Intel currently trades at $112.50. The consensus target stands at $116.37, suggesting 3.44% of upside. Targets are estimates. Of 49 analysts:
Over the past year, Intel climbed 207.46% as the S&P 500 rose 16.01%. Last week, Intel slipped 2.96% as the index added 1.95%. CNBC's Josh Brown said Intel "never gave you a reason to doubt."
At $112.50, the optimistic thesis rests on supply growth.
Intel expects supply to rise toward the end of Q3 and into Q4, especially for servers. The main limit on growth is capacity, and customer demand remains strong. Each new wafer that goes to data center CPUs has about a 40% operating margin. Intel also expects its ASIC business to grow from a $2 billion run rate to $4 billion, which adds a second engine.
The next earnings report needs to show margins near the 42.0% guide. After that, a named 14A customer would be the biggest driver. The argument falls apart if Intel delays 14A, if Foundry losses grow again, or if memory shortages cut into server shipments.
The beta of 2.23 points to sharp drops along the way. Even so, Intel is selling every server CPU it can make, and that is strong support for Cramer's CPU return call.
(Sponsor) Most people spend their entire working lives focusing on one thing: growing a pile of money. Then they retire and discover the skill they actually need is close to the opposite. Turning that pile into steady income, year after year, through good markets and bad, without ever running out.
It may be the least discussed and most consequential transition in personal finance, and plenty of otherwise careful investors walk into it with no real plan. That is exactly what The Definitive Guide to Retirement Income helps answer. It is a free guide from Fisher Investments covering what your retirement will really cost, where the cash flow should come from, and how much you can safely withdraw each year. Learn more here. Learn More Here ›
Contact editorial@247wallst.com for any questions or corrections.
