Can we all admit that Intel is pulling off the glow-up of the year? I mean seriously. Two weeks ago, it was the washed-up chipmaker with glasses always getting overshadowed by Nvidia and AMD’s hot outfits. Now? Investors are looking at it like, “Wait… when did you get hot?” It’s less “new glasses” makeover and more “went to Mexico for a little work done.” Seriously though, the company’s gotten more press in the past 14 days than it did in all of 2024 combined (source: trust me, bro).

It all started when Trump tried to can Intel’s new China-linked CEO Lip-Bu Tan (via Truth Social, because of course). Our freshly spray-tanned commander-in-chief blasted him as “highly CONFLICTED” and demanded he resign. In turn, this caused shareholders to start dumping the stock in fear Trump would do everything in his power to put Intel in a headlock. 

But then Trump pulled out the ole Uno Reverse, met Tan at the White House, and suddenly he’s like, “Amazing story, great guy, 10/10 would hire again.” It never ceases to amaze me how the man can go from “you’re fired” to “best CEO I’ve ever met” practically overnight (the guy has the emotions of a teenage girl in the middle of a science project).

Then late last week came the government rumors. Reports dropped that Uncle Sam might take up to a 10% stake in Intel. Yeah, the U.S. government out here speedrunning a r/wallstreetbets strategy, basically turning parts of that $10.9B CHIPS Act subsidy into equity. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent swears it’s not about “forcing people to buy Intel chips”... just about “stabilizing production.” In other words: “Yo, Nvidia and AMD are eating our lunch and we can’t let the only U.S. foundry left croak.” Wall Street heard “government tendies guaranteed” and sent Intel up 24% in a week. Its best run since 2000, back when boy bands and frosted tips ran the economy.

And then this morning, completely out of nowhere… Masa Son decided to crash the party. I’m sure Trump was halfway through drafting another Truth Social post about “China money” before someone reminded him SoftBank is from Japan. Masa, SoftBank’s founder, dropped a $2B bag on Intel for about a 2% stake. This immediately sent shares ripping up 10% because Masa still has market-moving juice, even after losing all his credibility and billions on WeWork, Uber, and the Vision Fund’s clown car of investments.

(Source: CNBC)

But all jokes aside… here’s why this is a huge deal for Intel. This isn’t some random investor plopping money into a chip dinosaur. SoftBank is one of the biggest players in AI and next-gen tech. They own Arm Holdings, and their VC empire has stakes in basically every new sector that Intel has been left out of. For a company that’s been riding the AI bench with a clipboard in hand, Masa’s stamp of approval is the coach finally yelling, “Get in there, old man.” And now everyone gets to see if this “washed up QB” still has an arm.

The $2B check matters, sure… but the signal matters way more. SoftBank planting a flag in Intel could open the door to more strategic partnerships, more investor confidence, and potentially even a shot at crawling back into the AI conversation they’ve been shut out of.

Now Intel’s up 25% YTD, 17% over the last 12 months, and (for the first time in forever) actually not boring. Yes, they’re still getting destroyed by AMD in servers, missing the AI boom, delaying that $20B Ohio plant, and laying off 20% of staff. But thanks to Trump’s mood swings and Masa’s YOLO bet, Intel has something it hasn’t had in years: momentum. And sometimes that’s way more important than a solid earnings report.

At the time of publishing this article, Stocks.News holds positions in Intel and Uber as mentioned in the article.