Citi and Evercore Pile Into Intel With Huge Price Target Hikes: Is the CPU Renaissance Real?

1 week ago 6

David Moadel

Fri, April 24, 2026 astatine 11:10 AM CDT 4 min read

Intel (INTC) bushed Q1 estimates with non-GAAP EPS of $0.29 versus $0.01 statement and gross of $13.577B, up 9%, portion information halfway and AI gross surged 22% year-over-year to $5.05B and Intel Foundry grew 16% to $5.42B.
Citi upgraded Intel banal to Buy with a $95 terms people and Evercore ISI moved to Outperform with a $111 target, though JPMorgan and BofA stay skeptical citing foundry losses, antagonistic escaped currency travel of $3.87B, and a guardant P/E of 125x.
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Wall Street's presumption connected Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) banal leaned bullish this morning. Citi upgraded Intel to Buy from Neutral with a $95 terms target, up from $48, portion Evercore ISI's Mark Lipacis moved to Outperform from In Line with a $111 target, up from $45.

The calls came aft Intel's blockbuster Q1 FY2026 print. Non-GAAP EPS deed $0.29 versus a $0.01 consensus, portion gross reached $13.577 billion, astir a 9% beat. INTC shares traded up 28% successful the premarket to $85.26.

For semipermanent investors, the cardinal question is whether agentic AI genuinely rehabilitates the Intel banal story, oregon if foundry losses and borderline unit headdress the rally. The divergence crossed firms is the existent tell.

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Ticker

Company

Firm

Action

Old Rating

New Rating

Old Target

New Target

INTC	Intel	Citi	Upgrade	Neutral	Buy	$48	$95
INTC	Intel	Evercore ISI	Upgrade	In Line	Outperform	$45	$111
INTC	Intel	KeyBanc	PT Raise	Overweight	Overweight	$70	$110
INTC	Intel	BofA	PT Raise	Underperform	Underperform	$48	$56
INTC	Intel	JPMorgan	PT Raise	Underweight	Underweight	$35	$45

Lipacis frames Intel arsenic a "CPU renaissance play," arguing the fastest increasing AI workloads request much CPUs and could flip the CPU:GPU ratio from 1:8 to 8:1. He credits CEO Lip-Bu Tan with fixing the equilibrium expanse and positioning Intel "back connected the competitory track."

Citi's thesis leans connected improving CPU request from agentic AI. Even aft the surge, Citi inactive sees 20% upside. Lipacis flagged Intel's "unique position" arsenic the lone U.S.-based leading-edge spot maker.

Intel's Q1 gross premix validated the AI angle. Data Center and AI gross roseate 22% twelvemonth implicit twelvemonth to $5.05 billion, portion Intel Foundry grew 16% to $5.42 billion.

Strategic wins piled up. Intel Xeon 6 was selected arsenic the big CPU for NVIDIA's DGX Rubin NVL8 systems, and Intel inked a multiyear concern with Alphabet's (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google to co-develop customized ASIC IPUs. Tan said agentic AI is "significantly expanding the request for Intel's CPUs and wafer and precocious packaging offerings."

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