Intel shares surged more than 9% in premarket trading Thursday, touching a fresh record near $129.84, after President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that Apple has agreed to work with Intel to design and build chips inside the United States. "Stupid Presidents took our Economy for granted, and let Taiwan and others steal our Semiconductor Factories," Trump wrote, adding that "Apple has agreed to work with Intel to design and build its Chips in America." Neither company has issued a formal confirmation of the arrangement.
The announcement caps a week of momentum for Intel. Two days earlier, at the VLSI Symposium in Honolulu, the company disclosed that its 18A-P manufacturing process had entered risk production, an early low-volume stage used to gather data on defect rates and performance before full-scale output begins. Intel says the node delivers roughly 9% higher performance at the same power draw, or 18% lower power at equivalent performance, while remaining design-rule compatible with the original 18A process so customers can reuse existing chip designs.
Analysts and supply-chain researchers had been circulating reports of preliminary Apple-Intel talks for more than a month. Ming-Chi Kuo and GF Securities have separately outlined a scenario in which Apple's M7 system-on-chip, destined for the MacBook Air and an entry-level iPad Pro, would be built on Intel's 18A-P line, with mass production targeted for late 2027. Some reporting has also pointed to a longer-term shift of Apple's A21 iPhone processors to Intel's future 14A node around 2028, though none of this has been confirmed by either company.
The stakes for Intel extend well beyond any single contract. The company's foundry division has struggled for years to convince outside customers that its manufacturing can match Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing on yield and reliability, and it has yet to confirm a single leading-edge customer for the 18A family. Landing Apple, even for a limited set of lower-tier chips, would offer a credibility signal to other potential clients weighing whether to diversify away from TSMC, which is increasingly capacity-constrained as it fills orders for AI chipmakers including Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices.
The U.S. government's financial stake in Intel adds another layer to the story. Washington holds roughly a 10% equity position in the company following an $8.9 billion investment in Intel common stock disclosed in a 2025 SEC filing, and Trump noted Thursday that the position has grown sharply in value since then. Intel shares have climbed more than 460% over the past 12 months, lifting the company's market capitalization to roughly $608.7 billion even before Thursday's premarket pop, as investors reward both the government-backed turnaround narrative and steady process-technology progress under chief executive Lip-Bu Tan.
Market strategists urged some caution about chasing the move. A presidential social media post is not a signed supply agreement, and any durable re-rating for Intel will likely hinge on whether Apple interest converts into disclosed contracts with specific volume commitments, something that would typically surface in a future earnings call or regulatory filing from either company. Counterpoint Research analysts described a confirmed Apple relationship as a potential "turnaround moment" for Intel's foundry ambitions, but cautioned that real-world yield data, not announcements, will ultimately determine whether Intel can take meaningful share from TSMC.
For now, the move ranks among the largest single-session gains for Intel stock in recent memory, and it arrives in a week already crowded with cross-currents for chip investors, including a hawkish Federal Reserve rate path and a separate rally in memory-chip names tied to easing Middle East tensions. Traders will be watching closely for any on-the-record comments from Apple or Intel executives in the sessions ahead.