Intel's Inventory CPUs Unexpectedly Sold Out Due to AI Inference Demand, Stock Price Hits All-Time High

In Q1 this year, AI service companies had strong demand for Intel CPUs, even selling out chips that had been written down. This reversal pushed Intel's stock up over 24% in early trading to $83, with a market cap exceeding $416 billion, hitting an all-time high (surpassing the 2000 internet bubble peak).

Market sentiment drove AMD and Arm's stock up over 11% each, and Nvidia also released a new CPU to cope with competition. Intel's Q1 results beat expectations, with 23 brokers raising target prices and demand for Xeon server CPUs rising. The CFO said the outlook upgrade was partly due to price hikes, and old/downgraded inventory chips were used amid supply shortages in Q1, but it's unclear if this benefit will continue. Intel's stock has risen over 120% year-to-date.