Nova K. Williams 
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Like Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) saw its shares fall as much as 6% on Friday as Wall Street analysts said the semiconductor giant has reached a position where it depends on business picking up in the second half of this year.
Shares of Intel (INTC) fell more than 4% a day after the company forecast second-quarter revenue to be slightly below analysts’ estimates, and suggested PC market weakness could be looming on the horizon. Chief executive Pat Gelsinger said Thursday that the lingering supply chain issues that have plagued the chip industry for more than a year will still take some time to resolve.
While Intel’s (INTC) first-quarter results were generally positive, the company said revenue from its client computing group [CCG], which is responsible for chips used in personal computers, fell 13% from a year ago to $9.3 billion. Oppenheimer analyst Rick Schafer said Intel’s (INTC) comments on the PC market could only cast a twisted eye on the company’s outlook for the rest of 2022.
“We see CCG’s growth challenged this year as PC units slip,” said Schafer, who added that the company’s market share and price outlook “remains uncertain.” Schafer holds a performance or neutral rating, but no price target on Intel (INTC) stock.
As Intel’s (INTC) second-quarter outlook left something to be desired in investors’ minds, the company stuck to its full-year guidance of $3.60 per share earnings. , on a turnover of 76 billion dollars.
At BMO Capital Markets, analyst Ambrish Srivastava left in place his market performance, or neutral rating, and $50 per share price target on Intel (INTC). Srivastava said that by keeping its expectations for the whole of 2022 unchanged, Intel (INTC) is “preparing for a strong second half” to accelerate its business.
Raymond James’ Chris Caso echoed some of Srivastava’s comments, even going so far as to maintain his performance rating on Intel’s stock market (INTC). However, Caso said that relying so heavily on the second half of this year and saying he expects to see some weakness in the PC market, Intel (INTC) shouldn’t be surprised if investors remain skeptical about the company’s prospects for the foreseeable future.
“We also don’t expect anyone with Intel to own the stock for 2022, anyway,” Caso said. “We think the [positive case] is all about catching up with Intel in 2024 and 2025.”
