Intel Corp. (INTC) shares moved lower Friday after analysts at JPMorgan resumed their coverage of the chipmaker with an 'underweight' rating.
JPMorgan analyst Harlan Sur slashed his price target on the stock in half, to $32 each, noting that it may take "several years before Intel is able to reverse the tide to reclaim technology leadership in hopes of regaining market share" following a series of errors in development and production and the rise of data center competitors such as Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). Sur had previously pegged Intel at 'Overweight'
AMD, in fact, launched its new 'Genoa' data center chip on Thursday that CEO Lisa Su said will translate into "lower capex, lower opex and lower total cos of ownership" for enterprises and for cloud data centers. Intel's delayed next generation 'Sapphire Rapids' chip, meanwhile, could be launched early next year following a series of delays.
Intel shares were marked 0.3% lower in early Friday trading, compared to a 1.2% gain for the Nasdaq, to change hands at $29.69 each.
Last month, Intel posted surprisingly solid third quarter earnings of 59 cents per share, but trimmed its full year sales forecast amid waning PC demand.
Looking into the final months of the year, Intel said it sees revenues in the region of $63.5 billion, down form its prior forecast of between $65 billion and $68 billion.
The group also detailed cost reduction plans it said would save $3 billion in 2023 and a further $8 billion to $10 billion by 2025.
