Intel's stock has best day since 1987, soaring 24% as chipmaker shows signs of a turnaround

intel shares surged 24% on friday — the stock's best single-day performance since october 1987. the close at $82.57 puts the chipmaker up 124% this year, after jumping 84% in 2025. friday's rally topped a 23% gain on sept. 18, when nvidia agreed to invest $5 billion in the company. ceo lip-bu tan, who took over early last year, has revived wall street interest by reeling in investments from the trump administration and nvidia, and pushing intel into the ai boom where it had been largely shut out. revenue beat estimates, rising 7.2% to $13.58 billion from $12.67 billion a year earlier — a reversal after five of the prior seven quarters showed year-over-year declines. intel also issued upbeat second-quarter guidance. the data center business drove much of the growth, with revenue up 22% to $5.1 billion as ai fueled demand for cpus. evercore isi upgraded the stock to buy, and citi followed suit, anticipating a cpu sales uplift across suppliers. the rally marks a sharp turnaround for a company that lost 60% of its value in 2024, leading to pat gelsinger's ouster as ceo in december of that year.