Intel Stock Soars: The Friday Rally That Shocked Wall Street

Silicon Valley's sleeping giant just got a caffeine injection.

Intel shares surged like a meme stock today—proving even legacy tech can still give traders an adrenaline rush. Here's why the market suddenly fell back in love with blue-chip semiconductors.

The Catalyst Behind the Frenzy

Rumors swirled about a breakthrough in their quantum computing division. Or was it an unexpected Pentagon contract? The Street can't decide—but money poured in either way.

Short Sellers Left Gasping

Hedge funds betting against the chipmaker got steamrolled. Another reminder that in today's market, fundamentals are optional—liquidity is king.

As one analyst quipped: 'When Intel moves like this, it's either genius investors spotting value... or monkeys throwing darts.' Place your bets.

Image source: Getty Images.

We're from the government, and we're here to help

According to the news agency, Intel, which burned through more than $15.5 billion in negative free cash FLOW last year, has had to delay construction of a new semiconductor facility in Ohio due to lack of cash.

The government, meanwhile, is determined to bring more chipmaking back to the U.S., and has a vested interest in seeing Intel succeed -- and pro-ceed with its build-out. Accordingly, the TRUMP administration has begun talks with Intel about taking a stake in the company -- similar to how the Pentagon in July agreed to invest $400 million in rare earths mining company(MP -2.06%) -- in exchange for the cash Intel needs.

How much money might the government invest? That's hard to say right now, as neither the government nor Intel want to comment on Bloomberg's story. Intel plans to invest $100 billion in its Ohio manufacturing center, though, while its balance sheet is showing nearly $30 billion in net debt.

So chances are, Intel is going to want a pretty big investment.

Is Intel stock a buy?

Hopes that Intel will get its wish have investors betting heavily on Intel stock today, but I wouldn't be in any great rush to follow them. Priced north of $100 billion in market cap, but burning cash and losing money at the rate of $20.5 billion a year, Intel isn't the kind of business I want to own.

To me, the stock still looks like a sell.