Intel Shares Rally After Preliminary Apple Chip Pact

Intel and Apple have reached a preliminary agreement for Intel to manufacture some of the chips used in Apple devices. Intel shares climbed to an intraday high of $130.57 on May 8, 2026, surpassing the company’s dot‑com era peak near $75.

The companies have been in talks for more than a year. The deal does not specify which Apple products or chip families Intel would produce. Industry sources say Intel-made Apple chips could appear in roughly 18 months if timelines hold. Apple currently relies largely on a single overseas foundry for its custom processors; Intel’s role would initially focus on lower-volume or specialized lines.

Markets reacted quickly. Intel shares rose more than 13% in the trading session after the announcement. A year earlier, the stock traded near a 52-week low around $19 per share.

The White House intervened in the discussions. President Trump personally advocated for Intel to Apple’s leadership at a White House meeting, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick took part in outreach to Apple executives. The U.S. government owns a 9.9% stake in Intel, purchased last August through the acquisition of 433.3 million shares at $20.47 each under programs funded by the CHIPS and Science Act. With Intel trading above $120, that position has grown in value to well over $50 billion. On his social platform, President Trump wrote that the arrangement had resulted in “making the United States of America over 30 Billion Dollars.”

Intel’s recent corporate developments include the launch of a Panther Lake product on an 18A manufacturing process, a $5 billion investment from Nvidia and a $2 billion investment from SoftBank. Lip‑Bu Tan became CEO in March 2025 and has pursued customers and partnerships to rebuild Intel’s foundry business after market share losses to competitors.

Rivals in chip design and manufacturing have expanded into data-center and AI markets, including a large multi‑gigawatt GPU supply deal by a competitor with a major AI company that involved an equity component. Intel has been focused on winning external foundry clients; securing Apple would represent a substantial customer for its manufacturing operations.

Apple ships more than 200 million iPhones annually, in addition to iPads and Macs. Any portion of that production moving to a new supplier would affect foundry volumes. Company officials have not disclosed which lines would move to Intel or the scale of initial work. Analysts expect Intel would begin with lower-volume products before taking on high-volume smartphone processors.

Many details remain unresolved, including final commercial terms, the exact manufacturing scope and the timing for large-scale production. Both companies are expected to negotiate specifics in the coming months. The U.S. government’s stake in Intel was part of an effort to expand domestic semiconductor capacity and resilience through the CHIPS and Science Act.