Intel Shares Climb 4% as Dell Earnings Fuel CPU Demand Optimism and Mizuho Cuts Target

Intel shares rose roughly 4% on September 4 as chip stocks broadly shrugged off rising rate-hike odds, with AMD gaining about 3% and Nvidia ticking higher. The rally came despite Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh lowering his price target on Intel to $92 from $109, while keeping a Hold rating, citing weaker near-term PC demand that he said AI inference strength could not fully offset in the short run. Rakesh noted Intel could benefit as the balance between CPU and GPU workloads improves with the expansion of agentic AI, and he sees tighter CPU supply conditions potentially persisting through 2027.

The sharper catalyst for the day's move was a bullish note from Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry, who argued that Dell's most recent earnings report directly validates a thesis of 16-fold year-over-year growth in CPU demand driven by surging AI workloads involving video, images and audio. Chowdhry specifically pointed to Dell's results as evidence and set a $200 price target on Intel, citing the company's support for large system memory and its Advanced Matrix Extensions technology capable of handling multiple AI-focused numerical formats.

Separate analysis highlighted a broader uptrend in Intel's earnings estimate revisions, with analysts pointing to AI demand, manufacturing gains on the Intel 18A process, and expanding custom silicon business as the primary drivers. Intel has gained roughly 148% year to date coming into the session, helped by the 18A ramp, an Nvidia equity investment, and growing data center AI momentum, with CEO Lip-Bu Tan having called Q2 2026 results the strongest revenue growth in more than 15 years.