Intel Stock Keeps Climbing Amid Takeover Talk

• Intel shares added to recent gains Tuesday following a report last week that the company could be a takeover target.

• Rival chipmaker Broadcom is the most likely buyer, some analysts said, with Elon Musk has mentioned as a potential wild card.

• Intel's shares have risen lately, but the stock has lost more than half its value over the past 12 months.

Takeover rumblings that lifted shares on Intel last week were still rumbling today.

Shares of Intel (INTC) were up more than 2% Tuesday afternoon, outpacing broader markets' gains and extending Friday gains that were powered in part by deal-related rumors.

Citi analysts last week said they see Broadcom (AVGO) as “the most likely company” to be interested in buying Intel. Such a deal, the analysts said, might require Broadcom to sell Intel's struggling foundry business—which the U.S. government might not like, given a “stated interest in Intel developing a merchant foundry.”

Other named potential buyers have included Qualcomm (QCOM)—and JPMorgan analysts last week said they see a possible wild-card buyer in Elon Musk. The analysts “could understand the logic” if Musk were interested in Intel’s foundry arm, “considering the amount of chips that his Tesla (TSLA), xAI, and SpaceX entities likely require.”

Intel is valued in the tens of billions of dollars, but the stock has lost more than half its value over the past 12 months, even after its recent bounce. The latest gains indicate that investors may be buying into the possible that change, including M&A, is coming in the wake of CEO Pat Gelsinger's retirement late last year.

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