Skip to navigationSkip to main contentSkip to right columnADVERTISEMENTDaniel Sparks, The Motley FoolSun, June 21, 2026 at 8:41 PM GMT+2 5 min readIntel (NASDAQ: INTC) is having a moment. The stock spiked to an all-time high on Thursday after President Donald Trump said on social media that Apple had agreed to work with the company to design and build chips in the U.S. It was the latest in a run of high-profile interest that includes an announced collaboration with Nvidia.After years of being written off, Intel's foundry comeback suddenly looks convincing -- and the stock is up more than 500% over the past year.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 »This raises a fair question about the longtime foundry leader, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE: TSM): Is its grip on advanced chip manufacturing finally loosening?Imag source: Getty Images.Intel's foundry momentAfter falling behind on manufacturing technology for the better part of a decade, Intel has bet its future on becoming a contract chipmaker that builds silicon for outside customers, not just for itself.Its 18A process, which entered high-volume production last October, is the centerpiece. Intel's first 18A laptop chip, Panther Lake, started selling early this year, and a server chip followed in the spring. The list of would-be customers has grown, too. Beyond the reported Apple arrangement, which neither company has confirmed, Intel has pointed to a collaboration with Nvidia and a multibillion-dollar deal to make custom artificial intelligence (AI) chips for Amazon.The momentum is hard to argue with.But don't get too excited just yet. Intel's foundry segment generated $5.4 billion in revenue in the first quarter, up 16% year over year -- yet just $174 million of that came from outside customers. The rest was Intel building chips for Intel. The segment also posted a $2.4 billion operating loss for the period.With that said, CEO Lip-Bu Tan has said he expects early design commitments from external customers in the second half of 2026.Why TSMC still runs the industryTaiwan Semiconductor builds chips for much of the industry, including Nvidia and Apple, at a scale no rival can match. It controls about 70% of the pure-play foundry market and more than 90% of the world's leading-edge production -- the cutting-edge nodes that the most advanced AI and smartphone chips require. That's exactly the part of the business Intel is trying to break into, and the hardest part to crack.Terms and Privacy PolicyEU DSA contactPrivacy & Cookie SettingsMore Info