Intel Appears to be a good long term play

[SOL]

We are opening a new thread to focus on Intel as it appears it is in the process of pulling a Houdini. Any information posted under this topic should try to focus on the topic at hand.

While this story is a bit old, it was somewhat buried and we think it's one of many that Indicate many American companies in the tech sector are going to stick with Intel and there must be a reason for this.

The mission for this new alliance is to “drive ‘silicon-to-cloud’ innovation for the benefit of enterprise customers — fueling a differentiated modern computing platform and providing additional choice for integrated business solutions.”

Whoever wrote this mission statement was clearly trying to see how many words they could use without actually saying something.

Here is what the alliance is really about: Even though the word Chrome never appears on its homepage and Google’s partners never quite get to mentioning it either, it’s all about helping enterprises adopt Chrome and Chrome OS. “The focus of the alliance is to drive innovation and interoperability in the Google Chrome ecosystem, increasing options for enterprise customers and helping to address some of the biggest tech challenges facing companies today,” a Google spokesperson told me.

https://techcrunch.com/2020/12/10/googl ... zYRwMGOHII

Intel will most likely announce major developments in the Quantum computing area, which will give those that use its technology a advantage in the long run.

Additionally, we believe that there is a good chance that INTC is busy forming a strong bond with IBM and this could have long term implications in the race to produce the fastest chips especially in the 2Nm area

[SOL]

Intel joins hands with Google Cloud to accelerate 5G deployment

Intel is teaming up with Google Cloud to develop integrated solutions for communication service providers to accelerate 5G deployment across multiple network and edge locations.

The partnership focuses on accelerating the ability of communications service providers to deploy their virtualised radio access network (RAN) and open RAN solutions with next-generation infrastructure and hardware, the two companies said on Tuesday.

https://www.business-standard.com/artic ... 510_1.html

The U.S., which was once a leader, lags behind in this space after monumental shifts in the business models in the semiconductor industry.

But a global semiconductor shortage and geopolitical tensions with China have bolstered Washington’s scrutiny of the supply chain, which is concentrated in the hands of a small number of players, and has created a drive to bring manufacturing back to American soil to regain leadership.

The U.S. has earmarked billions of dollars and is reportedly looking at alliances with other nations.

Semiconductors are critical to everything from cars to the smartphones we use. And they have also been thrust into the center of U.S.-China tensions.

“One characteristic of US policy is that it has heavy emphasis on China. This has now become a national imperative to enhance self-sufficiency in semis production, accelerated by the recent chip shortages and the ‘tech war’ against China,” Bank of America said in a note published Wednesday.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/12/us-semi ... chain.html

[Triplethought]

Semiconductors are critical to everything from cars to the smartphones we use. And they have also been thrust into the center of U.S.-China tensions.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/12/us-semi ... chain.html

Yet no bump on the news. In fact it's down a bit from where I bought a 3rd lot last week. It's nice that it pays a dividend though. Even though it hasn't shot to the moon yet those dividends are nice.

[Yodean]

The pendulum continues to swing away from pure capitalism towards political distortion of free market forces through government subsidies.

INTC looks poised to benefit:

*****

Germany's southern state of Bavaria is in talks with Intel (INTC.O) to build a European chip factory in a bid to counter supply bottlenecks that have hampered production in the automotive sector.

In recent months, the U.S. chipmaker has been seeking 8 billion euros ($9.5 billion) in public subsidies to build a semiconductor manufacturing site in Europe.

"I strongly support this," said Economy Minister Hubert Aiwanger, whose state is home to luxury carmaker BMW (BMWG.DE). "The possible location of a large international semiconductor manufacturer in Bavaria is an outstanding opportunity."

The European Union is considering creating a semiconductor alliance including STMicroelectronics, NXP, Infineon and ASML to cut dependence on foreign chipmakers during a global supply chain crunch.

*****

https://www.kitco.com/news/2021-06-18/G ... ctory.html

[Yodean]

Two major chipmakers this week gave very different views of whether soaring demand for semiconductors will start to ease in the second half of the year, and it may take another round of earnings next week to settle the question.

Texas Instruments (TXN.O) on Wednesday gave a third-quarter sales forecast that was essentially flat, with company executives declining to say what the year's final quarter might look like, a hint that orders might be slowing.

By contrast, Intel Corp (INTC.O) on Thursday raised its full-year forecast, with Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger saying it could take the chip industry two years to catch up with "explosive demand" and predicting that a boom in PC sales driven by pandemic work-from-home arrangements would carry through next year.

Analysts, however, saw the bump in Intel's outlook as driven by a strong, already-ended second quarter, and said that it pointed to a weaker final quarter of 2021. Investors agreed, knocking 3% off the company's shares.

Still, Intel's raised forecast chimes in with a bullish outlook given by its bigger foundry rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) (2330.TW), which expects strong sales growth in the current quarter, boosted by solid demand from smartphones, high-performance PCs and autos.

For now, investors likely need to wait until next week for more clarity, with AMD, Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O), Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and SK Hynix (000660.KS) all reporting results.

Combined with Intel, AMD's results should give a comprehensive view of the PC and data center markets when the company updates its outlook for the full year.

https://www.kitco.com/news/2021-07-23/I ... doubt.html

[Yodean]

Intel buys a drop of COIN:

Intel Corp on Friday disclosed a stake worth less than a million dollars in U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc.

The chipmaker held about 3,014 shares of Coinbase’s Class A common stock as of June 30, Intel said in a regulatory filing. The Coinbase shares would be worth around $788,191, based on trading price of $261.51 at 15:01 pm ET on Friday.

https://www.kitco.com/news/2021-08-13/I ... nbase.html

Chips and crypto, sounds delicious.

[Yodean]

Intel Corp (INTC.O) on Tuesday said it could invest as much as 80 billion euros in Europe over the next decade to boost the region's chip capacity and will open up its semiconductor plant in Ireland for automakers.

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, speaking at Munich's IAA auto show, also said the company would announce the locations of two major new European chip fabrication plants by the end of the year.

There is speculation about possible production sites, with Germany and France seen as leading contenders while Poland, where Intel also has a presence, also in the picture.

"Cars are becoming computers with tires. You need us and we need you... The aim is to create a centre of innovation in Europe, for Europe," Gelsinger said.

The "Intel Foundry Services Accelerator" is aimed at helping automakers learn to make chips using what Intel calls its "Intel 16" chip manufacturing technology and later move to its "Intel 3" and "Intel 18A" technologies.

Those manufacturing processes would be far more advanced than most of the processes currently used in the automotive industry. Intel said that nearly 100 automakers and key suppliers - including BMW AG (BMWG.DE), Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE), Daimler AG (DAIGn.DE) and Bosch - had expressed support for its programmes.

Intel views automakers as a key strategic priority. Gelsinger said Tuesday that the company believes chips will make up 20% of the cost of vehicles by 2030, a five-fold increase from 4% of the cost in 2019.

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos- ... 021-09-07/

[Yodean]

Intel Corp (INTC.O) said on Monday it plans to take self-driving-car unit Mobileye public in the United States in mid-2022, a deal which could value the Israeli unit at more than $50 billion, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Chip giant Intel, the largest employer of Israel's high-tech industry with nearly 14,000 workers, expects to retain Mobileye's executive team and hold on to a majority ownership in the unit after the initial public offering (IPO) of newly issued Mobileye stock.

Intel has no intention to divest or spin off its majority ownership in Mobileye, the company said in a statement, adding that it will continue to provide technical resources to the automaker.

"Amnon and I determined that an IPO provides the best opportunity to build on Mobileye's track record for innovation and unlock value for shareholders," Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said in the statement.

Intel bought Mobileye for $15.3 billion in 2017, putting it into direct competition with rivals Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O) and Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O) to develop driverless systems for global automakers.

Mobileye, founded in 1999, has taken a different strategy from many of its self-driving car competitors, with a current camera-based system that helps cars with adaptive cruise control and lane change assistance.

The company plans to eventually build its own "lidar" sensor to help its cars map out a three-dimensional view of the road and is using lidar units from Luminar Technologies (LAZR.O) on its initial robotaxis in the meantime.

Despite being owned by Intel, Mobileye has never used Intel's factories to make its chips, instead relying on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (2330.TW) for all of its "EyeQ" chips to date.

[Budge]

The pendulum continues to swing away from pure capitalism towards political distortion of free market forces through government subsidies.

INTC looks poised to benefit:

https://www.kitco.com/news/2021-06-18/G ... ctory.html

Gelsinger has an opinion piece on CNN Business wanting taxpayers to invest (shell out) $52bn for semi development in the US following the lead of the EU:

"America's ability to address the chip shortage is limited. Domestic chipmaking capacity has been declining for decades, as subsidies from other countries continue to drive production elsewhere. Our country's economic security depends on reliable access to semiconductors — access that requires near-term investment in our capacity and capability to produce more chips.
Federal support would even the playing field and unlock tens of billions of dollars in private investment here at home. That's why Congress must fund the CHIPS for America Act, which will invest $52 billion in domestic semiconductor capacity and capability. The bill would provide billions in funding for manufacturing and R&D grants, invest heavily in advanced manufacturing and semiconductor research, establish public-private partnerships focused on the development of advanced microelectronics, and secure supply chains."

https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/08/perspect ... index.html

Karl Denninger has a different take:

"Handing money to people will not solve it. Why not? Because the Chinese will simply hand over more money.

The reason the cost disparity exists is found in wages and environmental factors. Specifically you can pollute there, not here. You can enslave there, not here.

From 2010:

Folks, either our wage and hour laws, along with our environmental protection laws, are defensible or they are not.

If they are, then they are for any product or service sold in the United States, irrespective of where it's produced.

If they're not, then they're not defensible for any product or service sold here, again, irrespective of where it's produced.

We have spent 20 years exporting our labor to places where effective slave-labor conditions are the order of the day and environmental standards are non-existent."

http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=244486

[outof thebox]

So far all the green policies produce more damage when everything is factored in. Producing EV batteries is a very dirty and environmentally damaging process. if we are going to go Green We need to embrace Nuclear until a viable solution is found.

SOL Intel appears ready to break out. It rallied towards resistance 54-55 ranges and pulled back. What is your take? Do you think this sleeping giant is ready to breakout? Other opinions are also welcome. I have a relatively large holder position in INTC and everytime it dips below 48 I sell puts which so far is paying off quite nicely

[Jaz]

SOL Intel appears ready to break out. It rallied towards resistance 54-55 ranges and pulled back. What is your take? Do you think this sleeping giant is ready to breakout? Other opinions are also welcome. I have a relatively large holder position in INTC and everytime it dips below 48 I sell puts which so far is paying off quite nicely

Certainly appears to be setting itself up for a move. So long as the horizontal blue line holds. There is also two major Catalysts around the corner ... The CHIP's Act finally getting passed. Will mean Intel will receive a sizeable Tax Credit.

The 2nd is the Nvidia ARM Deal falling through. ARM Architecture will start to be seen as a lesser significant threat to x86.

[SOL]

So far all the green policies produce more damage when everything is factored in. Producing EV batteries is a very dirty and environmentally damaging process. if we are going to go Green We need to embrace Nuclear until a viable solution is found.

SOL Intel appears ready to break out. It rallied towards resistance 54-55 ranges and pulled back. What is your take? Do you think this sleeping giant is ready to breakout? Other opinions are also welcome. I have a relatively large holder position in INTC and everytime it dips below 48 I sell puts which so far is paying off quite nicely

There is strong support at 48 and as long as it does not close below this level on a monthly basis, the outlook will remain neutral. We have a fairly strong zone of resistance in the 55 to 56 ranges. A monthly close above 55 will turn the short to intermediate-term trends bullish.

[SOL]

Malaysia says U.S. chipmaker Intel to invest $7 billion in new facility

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - American chip manufacturer Intel Corporation will invest 30 billion ringgit ($7.10 billion) in a new, state-of-the-art facility, Malaysian authorities said on Monday.

The Malaysian Investment Development Authority, in a media invitation, said Intel Corporation had chosen Malaysia to expand manufacturing capabilities for its advanced semiconductor packaging technologies in the northern state of Penang.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/malaysia ... 50038.html

South East Asia will become the next hub as top US companies will seek to diversify from China. The next stop is probably Vietnam, they are producing a lot of top-level engineers.

[Yodean]

In their first public comments on its strategy for tapping into the "metaverse," Intel Corp (INTC.O) executives said the firm is working on software that will help laptops tap into computing power from other devices, including chips from its rivals.

The trend is expected to require vastly more computing power, and firms like Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O), which makes chips and software used to construct the virtual world, and Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O), which makes chips used in virtual reality headsets, have both gained value in recent months on investor enthusiasm about the metaverse.

At a news conference after a presentation at the RealTime Conference on metaverse technologies on Monday, Raja Koduri, head of Intel's accelerated computing systems and graphics group, said the company's first technology push into the metaverse will be software that helps devices take advantage of computing power that already exists and is unused.

For example, if a gamer is playing a graphics-heavy title on a laptop that would tax the system's chips but has an unused gaming PC in another room, the software could detect the spare power sitting idle on the PC and tap into it over a home network to make the laptop game run better.

Koduri said the software will work with chips from competitors. The software is designed to solve technical challenges for users, and not just to generate major revenue for Intel. Some of it will be shared, Koduri said.

"The way we are architecting all the layers is that it is going to work with everybody's hardware, as long as they are on industry standard specifications," Koduri told reporters. "There'll be a lot of open sourcing involved with everything that we build."

*****

[Jaz]

Here is a counter argument. From me!

In the immediate term, there is upside potential. This is based on the Chart, and the two potential catalysts I name above.

However, until 2024 at the earliest, Intel will be bleeding Cash on expansions. The P/E ration may not get affected, but Cash Flows will be impacted. Fewer share buy backs, fewer dividend raises, if any.

Market is skeptical there will be demand for Fab, or if it can can catch up with AMD. Producing Semi's in the U.S. is 30% more expensive than in the East.

Also, we have a bottleneck in Semi's. TSM and others also are pouring Capex into Fab's. Risk of over supply / capacity at some point.