Intel Corp. surged nearly 14% and Dell Technologies jumped 13% Friday as fresh reports of Apple chip-manufacturing discussions rekindled optimism over a domestic semiconductor renaissance, while Dell's record $43 billion AI server backlog drew a wave of analyst upgrades. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOXX) climbed 5.67% to 520.30, its largest single-session advance in three months, outpacing a 1.71% gain in the Nasdaq Composite to 26,247.08 and a 0.84% rise in the S&P 500 to 7,398.93, which was aided by an April payrolls print that came in nearly double analyst forecasts at 115,000 jobs added versus a 65,000 estimate, with unemployment steady at 4.3%.
Today's biggest movers
| Ticker | Close | Day | 1mo | YTD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $INTC | $124.92 | +13.96% | +100.26% | +217.22% |
| $DELL | $260.46 | +13.11% | +46.49% | +103.80% |
| $AMD | $455.19 | +11.44% | +85.76% | +103.69% |
| $DDOG | $200.16 | +6.06% | +89.96% | +49.63% |
| $AMAT | $435.44 | +6.04% | +9.00% | +61.95% |
| $NET | $196.13 | -23.62% | +17.45% | +0.06% |
| $NOW | $91.18 | -2.58% | +9.86% | -38.16% |
| $CRM | $181.82 | -2.43% | +10.22% | -28.31% |
| $MSFT | $415.12 | -1.34% | +11.93% | -12.23% |
| $META | $609.63 | -1.16% | -3.21% | -6.27% |
Cloudflare sinks 24% as AI workforce overhaul offsets a solid quarter
Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE: NET) delivered first-quarter revenue of $640 million, topping the $622 million analyst consensus, and adjusted earnings per share of $0.25 against a $0.23 estimate. Full-year guidance of $2.805-2.813 billion narrowly beat the $2.80 billion expected. Despite those beats, shares plunged 23.62% to $196.13 after CEO Matthew Prince announced a 20% reduction in global headcount, roughly 1,100 roles, framing the cuts as a structural response to agentic AI absorbing tasks previously requiring human staff. Gross margin of 72.8% fell short of the 75.1% the market expected, and second-quarter revenue guidance of $664-665 million landed below the $666 million consensus. The combination of margin compression and a headcount contraction that peers are resisting, most are still hiring into AI, sent Cloudflare to its worst single-day decline in over a year. Shares are essentially flat year-to-date after today's move, sitting well below the $219 52-week intraday high reached just days ago. Thursday's recap had flagged Cloudflare as part of a broader AI software rally; Friday reversed that entirely for NET.
Intel extends weekly surge on Apple chip talks and manufacturing momentum
Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) closed at $124.92, its highest level in several years, as preliminary discussions with Apple Inc. about domestic processor manufacturing drew renewed buying interest. The administration has cited $30 billion in new U.S. semiconductor manufacturing commitments, a figure analysts linked partly to emerging foundry agreements involving Intel. Intel's first-quarter results, reported April 23, had already set a strong fundamental floor: adjusted earnings per share of $0.29 demolished the $0.01 consensus estimate, and revenue of $13.58 billion topped the $12.42 billion forecast, with non-GAAP gross margins of 41% exceeding guidance by 650 basis points. Friday's 14% gain marks the second double-digit session move this week for INTC, which is up 217% year-to-date, making it one of the top-performing stocks in the S&P 500 in 2026. Many sell-side price targets remain well below current levels; consensus as of this week stands near $65, flagging a wide divergence between institutional models and the market's re-rating of the stock around its foundry pivot.
Dell climbs 13% on $43 billion AI server backlog and analyst target hikes
Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE: DELL) added 13.11% to $260.46, continuing a week-long re-rating driven by the company's AI server momentum. Dell entered its current fiscal quarter with a record $43 billion committed AI server backlog after signing $34.1 billion in new AI orders in a single quarter. AI-optimized server revenue surged 342% year over year in fiscal Q4, reaching $9 billion and representing 26% of total company revenue for that period. Mizuho raised its price target to $260 from $215, maintaining an Outperform rating. Bank of America lifted its target to $246 from $205 with a Buy. Full-year fiscal 2026 revenue reached $113.54 billion, an 18.8% increase over the prior year. Dell reports Q1 fiscal 2027 results on May 28, and the backlog level provides strong forward visibility. The stock is up 103.8% year-to-date. Tuesday's session recap traced the week's AI infrastructure rally back to AMD and Super Micro's earnings prints, which set the tone for the broad chip move.
AMD closes above $455 as post-earnings analysts pile in
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) gained 11.44% to $455.19, extending a multi-session run that began after its first-quarter earnings beat on May 5. Q1 revenue of $10.3 billion exceeded estimates, and second-quarter guidance of $11.2 billion, representing roughly 46% year-over-year growth, came in above the consensus. CEO Lisa Su attributed the stronger forward guide partly to a supply agreement with Meta Platforms for the MI450 GPU, which began flowing into the order book. Goldman Sachs upgraded AMD to Buy from Hold and raised its price target to $450; Bernstein upgraded to Outperform with a $525 target; Barclays lifted its target to $500 with an Overweight rating. AMD is now up 103.7% year-to-date. The MI450 demand signal, if sustained into Q2, would put AMD's data center GPU segment on a trajectory broadly comparable to NVIDIA's acceleration cycle in percentage-growth terms during 2023.