A hét részvénye: Intel (Angol hír)

Shortage of semiconductors is having a negative impact on the global economy. Situation looks especially grim in the automotive sector with numerous carmakers deciding to suspend or scale down part of the production. Intel saw an opportunity and announced massive investment aimed at boosting its position on the semiconductor market. Let's take a look at what Intel's plans are.

New factory investments

Intel has been a major player in the semiconductor market for a long time. However, the company started to lose ground against competitors from Asia as it struggled to innovate as quickly. Intel announced on Tuesday evening that it will invest $20 billion in two new US chip factories that will be located near existing plants in Arizona. Intel has been reluctant to follow into footsteps of other major hardware companies and outsource chip manufacturing to third parties. Plan to set up two new chip foundries shows that the US company plans to stay on this course. However, Intel decided to alter its strategy so it can regain its leader position in the semiconductor market.

Strategy change

Intel was manufacturing chips for its own processors and while this is not going to change, the company announced a major change in how it is doing business. Intel will start offering foundry services to other companies. This is a common practice for semiconductor companies with TSMC or Samsung Electronics already manufacturing chips for US tech companies, like Apple, Nvidia or AMD. Intel was offering foundry services earlier but the company's CEO admitted that those efforts were half-hearted and now the company will engage more seriously and will provide customers with an access to its top products. Moreover, Intel will also outsource some production of less advanced chips to third parties.

Positive political environment

Political environment is favourable for such projects as politicians want to see as much production coming back to the United States amid tensions with China. Intel said that it hopes it can negotiate better terms or incentives with the Biden administration so that the final price tag may be smaller than the aforementioned $20 billion. Company said that investments into additional new factories in Europe and the United States may be announced next year.

However, a point to note is that Intel is not the only company that plans to boost its manufacturing capacity in the United States. TSMC announced a $12 billion investment into a new factory in Arizona while Samsung plans a $17 billion expansion project at its facility in Texas. Both companies are also expected to receive government subsidies. Nevertheless, the decision to launch foundry services for other companies has been generally well-received by analysts.

Technical analysis

Intel (INTC.US) has been trading in a short-term upward channel recently. Stock launched yesterday's trading around 5% higher on the back of Arizona investment news. However, stock has pulled back later on and erased all of the gains. Stock finished trading slightly above the $61.75 support marked with the lower limit of the market geometry and 23.6% retracement of the latest upward impulse. Breaking below this hurdle could hint at more weakness in the short-term and a risk of breaking below the lower limit of the upward channel. If this is the case, key support to focus on in the short-term can be found at 38.2% retracement ($58.10 area).

Source: xStation5