Intel Corp. surged 11% after Alphabet Inc. named it as the manufacturer for 3 million AI chips destined for 2028 deployment, and ASML Holding N.V. gained 6.5% after Elon Musk declared it "arguably the greatest company in Europe" ahead of a joint Terafab announcement. Semiconductor stocks staged their sharpest single-day rebound of the month: the SOXX ETF climbed 5.87%, the Nasdaq Composite added 0.86% to 25,929.66, and the S&P 500 edged up 0.30% to 7,405.73, snapping back from last week's chip-led selloff that sent the SOXX down more than 10%.
Today's biggest movers
| Ticker | Close | Day | 1mo | YTD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $INTC | $110.27 | +11.19% | -11.73% | +180.02% |
| $AMAT | $492.17 | +8.64% | +13.03% | +83.05% |
| $LRCX | $324.45 | +6.98% | +10.34% | +75.32% |
| $ASML | $1,749.04 | +6.54% | +9.86% | +50.29% |
| $SMCI | $43.99 | +5.64% | +24.37% | +42.09% |
| $BIDU | $119.10 | -2.10% | -15.56% | -20.76% |
| $PANW | $266.33 | -2.10% | +28.12% | +48.48% |
| $CRWD | $658.79 | -1.82% | +24.83% | +45.24% |
| $CRM | $182.55 | -1.68% | +0.40% | -28.02% |
| $GOOGL | $363.31 | -1.42% | -9.35% | +15.28% |
Intel jumps 11% as Google commits to 3 million AI chips
Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) closed at $110.27, its largest single-session gain in over a year, after a cluster of partnership announcements over the weekend reframed the foundry recovery story. Alphabet Inc.'s Google committed to contracting Intel to manufacture approximately 3 million of its custom AI accelerators for delivery in 2028, one of the largest third-party foundry mandates in the company's history. Foxconn simultaneously announced a strategic collaboration with Intel to jointly develop next-generation AI infrastructure platforms, and Hitachi entered a separate agreement with Intel covering physical AI, advanced computing, and digital infrastructure.
Wells Fargo raised its Intel price target from $85 to $110, and Barclays lifted its target from $65 to $100; both firms maintained neutral-equivalent ratings, noting that Q1 2026 showed a net loss of approximately $3.73 billion and negative free cash flow. Intel has nonetheless gained 180% year-to-date as investors price in a multi-year foundry rebound. Today's session was a sharp reversal from Friday's chip-sector rout, which sent INTC down alongside the broader semiconductor complex.
Applied Materials and Lam Research rally on equipment supercycle data
Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) surged 8.64% to $492.17 after reporting record Q2 fiscal revenue and raising its semiconductor equipment business growth forecast for calendar 2026 to above 30%. Management also increased the quarterly dividend by 15%, extending a nine-year streak of consecutive increases. Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh raised his price target to $540 from $500 with an Outperform rating, Cantor Fitzgerald moved to $575 from $550, and Deutsche Bank lifted its target to $550 from $450, all with buy-equivalent ratings. Morgan Stanley took the other side, downgrading Applied Materials to Equal Weight from Overweight with a $502 target, pointing to potential DRAM wafer fab equipment revisions in the second half.
Lam Research Corp. (NASDAQ: LRCX) gained 6.98% to $324.45, lifting its year-to-date return to 75%. Lam is rising on the same AI infrastructure spending wave as Applied Materials, though analysts note that ongoing U.S.-China chip export restrictions continue to create uncertainty around second-half demand forecasts. The stock's 52-week range expansion of nearly 5% intraday reflected strong conviction buying rather than short covering.