UBS raised its price target on Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC, XETRA:INL) to $65 from $51, citing improving near-term demand trends, though it cautioned that valuation could limit further upside.
Shares of Intel traded up more than 4% at about $65 on Monday.
The bank's analysts said it saw “a clear upside bias for results and guidance,” particularly on revenue, as PC demand remained resilient and server CPU demand “inflected materially higher.”
UBS also estimated Intel had implemented price increases of around 10%, with potential for further gains through the year.
Strength was most pronounced in enterprise servers, which UBS estimated accounted for about 60% of Intel’s server CPU revenue.
Reflecting these trends, UBS raised its forecasts, projecting March-quarter revenue of about $12.5 billion, above Intel’s guidance midpoint of $12.2 billion.
Full-year 2026 estimates were lifted to roughly $53 billion in revenue and $0.44 in earnings per share, up from prior estimates of $51 billion and $0.35.
Despite the improved outlook, UBS questioned how much of the positive momentum was already reflected in the stock following a roughly 38 percent rally over the past month. “Whether this will be enough to drive the stock higher is a bigger question,” the analysts wrote.
Over the longer term, UBS remained cautious on earnings potential, saying it was “hard to see more than $3 to $3.50 per year of EPS power through 2030,” which suggested limited upside at current valuation levels.
Still, the firm pointed to upcoming foundry catalysts, including the release of Intel’s 14A process design kit, which could help secure commitments from major customers.
Recent announcements were described as supportive for sentiment but “not particularly incremental to the near-term numbers.” A potential manufacturing-related collaboration tied to Elon Musk was viewed as positive for the foundry business, though unlikely to contribute meaningfully before the end of the decade.
On the client side, UBS said conditions would become more challenging as 2026 progresses, forecasting global PC shipments declining about 5 percent and Intel’s client revenue falling around 10 percent for the year.
In AI and custom silicon, UBS highlighted opportunities, including Intel’s work with Google on a custom infrastructure chip, which it estimated could generate $1 billion to $3 billion annually per program.