Intel's stock soared. After a year of savings, it will spend $14 billion on a plant buyback

Shares of chipmaker Intel rose 10% in trading on Wednesday, April 1, after the company announced plans to buy back 49% of its plant in Ireland for $14.2 billion. Just two years ago, Intel sold this stake to investment fund Apollo Global Management, and cheaper than it is paying now - for $11.2 billion. The buyout suggests that the company has returned to a sustainable position and regained confidence, according to CNBC.

Shares of chipmaker Intel rose 10.5% in Wednesday trading, reaching $48.77 at the peak. Investors positively assessed the company's decision to fully regain control over its production asset in Ireland - Fab 34 plant. This is the company's main production site in Europe: the plant produces processors for personal computers and servers.

Intel will buy a 49% stake in a Fab 34-related joint venture from Apollo Global Management, a deal that will be financed with existing cash and the issuance of about $6.5 billion in new debt, the chipmaker said.

The move reflects a change in strategy for the company, which has spent most of 2025 cutting costs, Bloomberg notes. Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan has been cutting staff, slowing expansion projects and seeking to sell off parts of the business.

Apollo invested $11.2 billion in Fab 34 in 2024 and took ownership of 49% of the company. The deal allowed to attract funds that Intel directed to new production technologies at this and other enterprises in the U.S., Bloomberg recalls.

"Our 2024 agreement was the right decision at the right time, providing Intel with significant flexibility to accelerate [other] key initiatives," Intel CFO David Zinsner said, he was quoted as saying in a company statement. - Today, we have a stronger balance sheet, improved financial discipline and a refreshed business strategy.

Fab 34 in Dublin now uses Intel 4 and Intel 3 process technologies. They will be replaced by the more advanced 18A technology, which is first being introduced at the company's plants in the United States. Intel is producing processors optimized for artificial intelligence on the new process. Intel said the agreement to buy out the plant's stake "builds on the growing and pivotal role of CPUs in the AI era," CNBC emphasizes.

Intel shares have risen by almost 31% since the beginning of 2026. For comparison, the "technological" index of the U.S. stock market Nasdaq Composite has declined by 6% over the same time.

Most analysts advise holding Intel stock: they have 35 Hold ratings out of 50 total, MarketWatch shows. Another nine recommend Buy (Buy and Overweight), and six recommend Sell (Underweight and Sell).

The average target price of $51.14 implies a 16% upside to the stock's last closing level (before the stock soared on April 1).

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor