Intel Stock (NASDAQ:INTC) Slips Despite GPUs Providing Gains for Gamers

It is easy to forget sometimes, amid the rush to get chips to data centers and to develop artificial intelligence (AI) applications, that chip stock Intel INTC +0.09% ▲ also produces chips for regular users and PC gamers. But new reports suggest that Intel’s work on that front is still proceeding, and doing quite well. Despite this, investors were a little less than pleased, and sent shares down fractionally in Friday afternoon’s trading.

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Whether considering the Arc graphics card line or the newer onboard graphics processing unit (GPU) the Xe, it turns out that Intel means power for gamers across a wide range of properties. For instance, the Arc B-Series GPU delivered as much as a 35% improvement in graphics quality for players of The Witcher III: Wild Hunt. Players of Resident Evil: Requiem, meanwhile, got a less specific but no less certain performance upgrade as well.

Intel was never really known for performance graphics cards, but with these revelations, it may be able to claim an advantage in a market that is still quite packed with interested buyers. This is especially true considering the amount of GPU systems going into data center applications and artificial intelligence (AI) development.

SambaNova’s Push Into AI

Meanwhile, Intel’s new deal with SambaNova may not have been the deal Intel wanted, necessarily, but it will still mean a step forward in the AI stakes. With a new multi-year partnership between the two in place, the idea behind the partnership is emerging, and has some exciting ramifications.

SambaNova’s AI accelerator chips, reports note, are poised to become part of Intel’s processor line, as well as some of Intel’s networking products. The end result is a “full-stack AI solution” that will work equally well for data center users as it will for enterprise users. It also serves as an alternative to Nvidia NVDA -3.27% ▼ that may prove particularly useful.

Is Intel a Buy, Hold or Sell?

Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on INTC stock based on eight Buys, 21 Holds and four Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 91.57% rally in its share price over the past year, the average INTC price target of $48.21 per share implies 6.26% upside potential.

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