Skip to navigationSkip to main contentSkip to right columnADVERTISEMENTDaniel Sparks, The Motley FoolSat, July 4, 2026 at 11:10 PM GMT+2 5 min readA $10,000 investment in Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) at its Jan. 2 closing price of $39.38 would have bought about 254 shares. At Thursday's close of $120.35, that stake is worth about $30,561 as of this writing. In six months, the money more than tripled.But two footnotes belong next to that figure. First, it was briefly even better: at Intel's June 30 close of $139.63, the same stake was worth more than $35,000, before the stock gave back about 14% across the first two trading sessions of July. Second, almost nobody saw this coming. In January, Intel was still widely viewed as the chipmaker that had missed the artificial intelligence (AI) boom.Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »Which raises the question for everyone who watched from the sidelines: What turned Intel into 2026's most dramatic large-cap comeback, and what has to keep going right from here?Image source: Getty Images.How Intel tripledThe rally wasn't built on PCs. It was built on two things: booming demand for the processors that feed AI data centers, and renewed faith in Intel's foundry -- the company's long-suffering bet on manufacturing chips for other companies.Intel's first-quarter results, reported in April, showed both engines running. Revenue in the company's data center and AI segment rose 22% year over year to $5.1 billion, and Intel Foundry revenue grew 16% to $5.4 billion, while the classic PC chip business grew just 1%. Total revenue rose 7% to $13.6 billion, and non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings per share more than doubled, to $0.29."This deliberate reset to how we operate drove a sixth consecutive quarter of revenue above our expectations, as well as new and deepened relationships with strategic partners," said CEO Lip-Bu Tan in the company's first-quarter earnings release.For years, the foundry consumed cash and produced doubt. What changed in 2026 is that customers -- and investors -- began treating the manufacturing turnaround as on schedule. Each new commitment matters twice over. It brings future revenue and signals to prospective customers that Intel's factories can be trusted with cutting-edge work.Add a chip sector in full boom, and the repricing was violent. A stock that entered the year priced for slow decline exited June priced for a successful transformation.What has to keep going rightTerms and Privacy PolicyEU DSA contactPrivacy & Cookie SettingsMore Info