Jim Cramer put Intel (NASDAQ:INTC | INTC Price Prediction) back in the spotlight this afternoon, telling followers on X that the chipmaker will be a “major focus name” on the CNBC Investing Club segment, with specific attention on CEO Lip-Bu Tan. The post landed Wednesday, August 12, 2026, teeing up Thursday’s Club discussion and directing retail investor attention toward one of the most closely followed turnaround stories in semiconductors.
Cramer has been building this narrative for months. On his May 18, 2026 Mad Money broadcast, he told viewers that when Tan took the CEO job, the stock was “sitting at around 20 bucks.” He went on to describe the recovery “one of the greatest turnarounds I’ve ever seen.” By June 30, he was calling Intel “currently my favorite stock.”
The Turnaround by the Numbers
Intel shares changed hands at $102.15 as of August 12, 2026, following a 4.6% bounce in the session off a recent pullback. The longer lookback tells the real story: shares are up 176.8% year to date and 368.3% over the past year, climbing from a 52-week low of $21.36. Market cap now sits near $515.2 billion.
The rally has been powered by operating results. Intel’s Q2 2026 revenue hit $16.128 billion, up 25.42% year over year and 11.64% above consensus. Non-GAAP EPS came in at $0.42 against a $0.2166 estimate, a 93.1% beat. In the Q2 earnings release filed with the SEC, Tan called it “our strongest revenue growth in more than 15 years.”
Segment mix is where the AI thesis becomes firm. Data Center and AI (DCAI) revenue jumped 59% year over year to $6.262 billion. Client Computing and Physical AI came in at $8.877 billion, up 13%. Intel Foundry revenue reached $5.765 billion, up 31%, though the segment still ran a $2.1 billion operating loss for the quarter.
What Tan Is Building
On the earnings call, Tan framed Intel’s position around hard-core AI compute demand, saying “strong demand for our products continues to outpace our growing supply” as the company notched its seventh consecutive quarter of beating financial expectations. He also flagged the process roadmap: Intel 18A output ran roughly 25% above target with yields tracking ahead of expectations, and the company committed to a high-volume ramp of Intel 14A in 2028.
Intel has also received two high-profile votes of confidence. NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) and the U.S. government took stakes last year, investments Cramer has repeatedly pointed to as proof the turnaround is gaining traction. Intel plans to spend more than $20 billion on capex in 2026 and “significantly” more in 2027, boosting its U.S. investment since 2021 closer to $100 billion.
What Wall Street Sees
While Cramer is amped up, the Street remains cautious. Analyst consensus rating skews neutral, with 31 Hold ratings, 12 Buys, 2 Strong Buys, 2 Sells and 1 Strong Sell. The consensus price target sits at $114.05, implying modest upside from current levels. Valuation reflects the recovery: shares trade at a forward P/E of 77 and price-to-sales of 8.64, though the PEG ratio of 0.501 suggests growth is doing some of the work.
What to Watch Next
Intel guided Q3 2026 revenue to between $15.8 billion and $16.8 billion, non-GAAP EPS of $0.38, and non-GAAP gross margin near 42%. The market has been unforgiving on earnings reports: even after the Q2 beat, shares fell 7.89% on the earnings day, and INTC is down 7.01% over the past month. Foundry losses, U.S. government equity ownership, and competitive pressure from AMD (NASDAQ:AMD) and ARM-based server designs remain the near-term overhangs Cramer’s Club audience will likely hear discussed on the risk/reward side.
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