Intel stock traded at $26.85 as of 02:32 PM EDT on Friday.
Along with the rest of the markets, semiconductor stocks were expected to end the week on a high note before an important industry report, and New Street Research upgraded two major chip equipment companies.
On Friday, shares of Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) rose more than 3%, while those of rivals Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices also increased. On October 27, following the close of business, Santa Clara, California-based Intel (INTC) is scheduled to release third-quarter financial results.
Intel Stock and Other Semiconductors Analyzed
Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger’s statement that was leaked says that Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), which is planning to lay off workers, will make 14 cents per share on $15.37 billion in sales. At midday, the following businesses saw gains of 3% or more: Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU), Microchip Power Systems (MCHP), ON Semiconductor (ON), and Broadcom (AVGO).
NXP Semiconductor, Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN), and Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) were also among the semiconductor companies that saw solid gains of at least 1.5%.
On Friday, New Street Research raised the ratings of Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) and ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML). The company said that the bad times in the larger semiconductor business should end soon and that companies that make capital equipment are likely to benefit a lot.
Following comments made by Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) earlier this week that wafer fab equipment spending would be below $70 billion, analyst Pierre Ferragu raised his rating on both Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) and ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) to outperform. He claimed that wafer fab equipment spending should “trough” in the low $60B range.
In a note to clients, Ferragu said, “We estimate only one more leg of revisions, which could be caused by more capex reduction in Logic.” The related news flow is expected to play out between now and mid-February. ” Based on the most recent cycle (2018–2019), this means that now is a good time to start setting up positions in the sector. Because of the upgrade, the prices Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) and KLA Corp. (NASDAQ:KLAC) also went up around midday on Friday.
On Friday, Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE:TSM) saw slight losses, which meant that not all semiconductor stocks were up. GlobalFoundries (GFS), a rival, added roughly 2%, nevertheless. The semiconductor industry got a boost on Wednesday from ASML Holding’s (ASML) prediction for the fourth quarter, which is that sales will be between €6.1B and €6.6B, up from €4.98B in the same quarter last year.
Is Intel Stock Nearing The Bottom?
Featured Image- Megapixl @ Danielconstante
Author Jowi Kwasu 
