Technology

By Claudia Assis Intel Corp. has hired advisors, including those with Morgan Stanley, to help defend the company against potential shareholder activism, CNBC reported late Friday. The report cited people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified due to confidentiality. Intel (INTC) and Morgan Stanley (MS) did not immediately respond to requests for comment from MarketWatch. Intel shares were holding to a 1% advance in after-hours trading Friday, after ending the regular session up 2.2%. The stock has seen steep losses recently, however. It is down nearly 70% this year as the company struggles to find its footing in the new AI landscape dominated by rival Nvidia Corp. (NVDA), and earlier this month posted a $1.6 billion quarterly loss. See also: Intel has sold its stake in Arm after a big rally for the chip-design stock It was unclear Friday whether Intel was under new activist pressure, […]

Intel is canceling its Intel Innovation conference for the year after two weeks in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. The chip giant’s stock plunged last week after its sales fell short of analyst expectations, and it said it planned to lay off about 15,000 employees. The company’s decision to replace the conference with “smaller, more targeted events” appears to be part of its urgent attempt to cut costs as Chief Executive Pat Gelsigner tries to right the ship.

Intel (INTC)’s senior unsecured rating was downgraded by Moody’s to BAA1 from A3 rating over apprehensions about the chipmaker’s profitability, Reuters reported Thursday citing the credit ratings firm. Moody’s also changed Intel’s unsecured ratings outlook to negative from stable, while affirming the company’s Prime-2 short-term commercial paper rating, the report said. Moody’s said that it expects Intel to face much weaker profitability over the next 12 to 18 months, according to Reuters.

Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC) has made headlines with its recent announcement of significant restructuring and disappointing quarterly earnings. The tech giant reported earnings of just 2 cents per share, falling dramatically short of the analyst consensus estimate of 10 cents. This represents a staggering 84.62% decrease from the same period last year. Intel’s response includes a major $10 billion cost-reduction plan aimed at streamlining operations and reducing headcount by over 15%, with the majority of cuts expected by the end of 2024. Additionally, the company will suspend its dividend starting in Q4 2024. Analysts are reacting with a mix of skepticism and cautious optimism. Here’s how key industry voices are interpreting the latest developments. BofA Securities analyst Vivek Arya downgraded the stock to Underperform with a price target of $23, down from $35. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst C.J. Muse maintains a Neutral rating with a revised price target of $27, down from