Intel Stock (NASDAQ:INTC)
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) has been in talks with the Italian government for months about building a fab there as part of its $77.5B investment in Europe over the next decade.
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) CEO Pat Gelsinger told an Italian newspaper on Friday that Italy is “still in the game” for the next fab but that other countries are still competing for the project.
Translation: “Italy is still in the game, but so are other potential nations,” Gelsinger told Il Corriere della Sera. “We’re looking in all the possible directions. By the end of the year, we will have made a decision.”
Friday’s early trading saw Intel stock dip by a hair.
While at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Gelsinger chatted with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, as he revealed to the media source. According to the news site, he also talked with the prime minister of Ireland, Leo Varadkar. He may have had conversations with his counterparts in Spain and Poland, Pedro Sanchez and Andrzej Duda, respectively, all of whom are competing for the position.
Meloni announced plans to meet with Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) last month to facilitate the chipmaker’s expansion plans in the nation.
Meloni stated, “In the coming days, I’ll endeavor to organize a meeting to ask Intel what we can do to support their investment in Italy, which I believe is incredibly strategic.”
As of late August, it was being said that Italy was about to strike a contract with the Italian government to construct a packaging and assembly facility in the nation and that the agreement might be valued at as much as $5 billion at first.
The previous administration of Prime Minister Mario Draghi had targeted the end of August as a target date for reaching an agreement, but this did not occur.
Intel announced a month later that its new multi-billion dollar chip facility in Europe would be located in the town of Vigasio in the Italian province Veneto, some 70 miles west of Venice.
The proximity of Vigasio to Germany, where Intel plans to construct two facilities, is considered a major factor in the city’s selection. Other regions of Italy, such as Piedmont, Lombardy, Apulia, and Sicily, were also considered for the plant’s location.
The new facility will be an innovative semiconductor packaging and assembly plant, and it is anticipated that chip production will begin there between 2025 and 2027.
UBS, an investing company, just named Intel stock one of the best semiconductor companies to buy in 2023.
Featured Image: Freepik @ JERO SenneGs
Author Shariq Khan 
