Intel Is Rocketing Higher on Reports That It May Partner With Apple. Should You Buy the Stock After an Incredible 175% Run This Year?

It's a bully clip to beryllium an Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) shareholder. The banal is up 175% this year, with astir of those gains coming recently, driven by Intel's beardown first-quarter 2026 net report.

As of 12:23 p.m. ET, Intel's banal traded astir 13% higher connected a Bloomberg report, suggesting that the institution is successful talks with Apple to go the user tech giant's main spot manufacturer for Apple's U.S. devices. Apple is besides reportedly successful talks with Samsung arsenic well.

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While media reports accidental nary woody has been finalized, it could correspond a large measurement for Intel, which has made its spot manufacturing capabilities a focal constituent of its turnaround program but is inactive seeking further large partnerships. Apple would beryllium a immense measurement successful this direction.

Should you bargain Intel banal aft this unthinkable run?

Talks whitethorn beryllium beauteous acold on

Based connected the market's reaction, investors look to deliberation a concern betwixt Intel and Apple is rather possible, which makes consciousness fixed past reporting.

"... We deliberation Apple is overmuch farther on than conscionable "discussions" with Intel connected foundry," Creative Strategies' CEO Ben Bajarin wrote connected X this morning.

This isn't the archetypal clip Apple and Intel person been linked. Last September, Bloomberg reported that Intel had asked Apple to put successful the institution erstwhile Intel had been struggling and looking for partners to assistance revamp its business.

Last year, during the height of President Donald Trump's tariff saga, Apple came nether important unit for having astir of its manufacturing successful China, India, and Vietnam. The institution has had a agelong concern with Taiwan Semiconductor for sourcing its chips.

To appease the Trump administration, which holds a involvement successful Intel, Apple's CEO Tim Cook made a $600 cardinal committedness to U.S. manufacturing and announced the American Manufacturing Program (AMP), dedicated to bringing much of its accumulation to the U.S.

Partnering with Intel would assistance Apple connected aggregate fronts by placing astatine slightest immoderate of its spot accumulation successful the U.S. and by aligning Apple with a institution the U.S. authorities has a vested involvement in.

Should you bargain the stock?

Intel banal has travel live this year, mostly arsenic cardinal processing units (CPUs) person abruptly go a large portion of the artificial quality story. Until recently, astir of the accent had been connected graphics processing units (GPUs), which connection parallel processing capabilities and are viewed arsenic the cardinal quality constituent of AI.