“I don’t want no scrubs…” - Tim Cook probably

Intel is seriously out here trying to rebuild its empire by begging the same people who killed it. As we all know, the company’s been in “turnaround” mode for so long that it now looks more like hospice care… however, that’s not stopping Intel from growing a pair and asking for some spare change. 

(Source: Giphy) 

In short, the latest headline making waves is that Intel has approached Tim Apple about an investment. In case you read that wrong… yes, Apple, as in the same Apple that has pent years methodically cutting Intel out of its hardware, moving Macs to its own M-series silicon, and handing TSMC the manufacturing crown. Now Intel wants Tim Cook to throw a little cash its way… not because Apple needs them, but because Intel is running out of lifelines.

(Source: New York Times) 

And lifelines have been the only thing keeping the lights on. In the past two months, Intel has taken $5B from Nvidia, $2B from SoftBank, and an $8.9B stake from Uncle Sam courtesy of the Trump administration. Between those three, Intel’s cap table looks less like a growth story and more like a government-subsidized rehab center. And yet, even with that, the problems are the same.  Intel has lost its process lead, ceded market share to AMD, and completely missed the AI boom while Nvidia turned into a $4.3T juggernaut. Investors talk about a “foundry comeback,” but Intel can’t even get customers to commit to its upcoming 14A node unless they prepay for the privilege. Oof.

On the other hand, for Apple… the calculus is different. Apple could give two sh*ts about Intel… but Cook already promised $600B in “domestic investment” to score points in D.C. So there’s about a non-zero chance that Tim Cook will entertain this… especially since throwing Intel a few billion would let Apple brag as the savior of American chipmaking. With that said, the irony is that Apple’s most sophisticated chips will still be fabbed in Taiwan, while Intel gets to pose as “strategic”. Lol. 

(Source: Giphy) 

In the end, this is the same story with a different headline. The government and a handful of big tech names are continuing to prop Intel up because nobody wants the optics of a U.S. chip champion dying in real time. If Apple joins the list, it’ll be for headlines, not because Intel is about to suddenly out-execute TSMC or Nvidia. 

To be fair though, the stock is up 65% YTD mainly because investors know Washington won’t let it flatline — but don’t confuse life support with growth. Intel isn’t competing anymore. It’s surviving. And survival, in markets, only works until the next bailout check doesn’t clear. Meaning, keep your eyes on this story and place yo bets accordingly, friends. Until next time…

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