Intel Is Up 174% in 2026 and AMD Is Up 175%: Take Profits, or Hold On for the Ride?

Two chipmakers have posted the semiconductor sector’s best runs of 2026, leaving their shareholders to decide whether to lock in gains or stay along for the ride. Intel (NASDAQ:INTC | INTC Price Prediction) stock is down 3% to $101.15 this afternoon, though the shares remain up 174% this year.

Meanwhile, Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) stock trades at $589.75, up 175% in 2026 and slightly ahead of the pace of Intel stock. Notably, NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) stock trades at $226.35, up 22% so far this year and far behind both of its rivals.

For sector context, the iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXX) is up 81% year to date at $544.83. Both Intel stock and AMD stock sit far ahead of that chip benchmark. As a broad-market gauge, the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) is up 21% over the same stretch at $745.85, a showing much closer to that of NVIDIA stock.

Intel’s Second Quarter Showed Demand Outrunning Supply

On its July 23 call covering the second quarter of 2026, Intel posted revenue of $16.1 billion, which David Zinsner said landed $1.8 billion above the middle of guidance. Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan said demand for Intel’s products continues to outpace the company’s expanding supply and that Intel is seeing its strongest revenue growth in more than 15 years.

Zinsner also reported adjusted earnings per share of 42 cents, against guidance of 20 cents. Intel’s data center revenue reached $6.3 billion, up 59% from a year earlier.

Intel Owns Its Factories, and That Cuts Both Ways

Intel both designs chips and owns the plants that make them, and it’s trying to sell that factory capacity to outside customers through Intel Foundry, its contract manufacturing business. AMD and NVIDIA design chips and pay outside foundries to manufacture them, and as a result, those two carry no comparable factory losses and no matching manufacturing upside.

Zinsner said Intel Foundry posted an operating loss of $2.1 billion in the quarter. In a separate remark, Zinsner noted that Intel raised its capital spending outlook for the year to more than $20 billion on customer demand signals. That combination means Intel is pouring more money into its plants while the unit that runs them remains in the red.

Where Intel’s Bull and Bear Cases Split

Optimists argue that Intel’s products business is already delivering and that the factory build-out gives the company something its design-only rivals can’t replicate. Under that view, the capital spending increase signals that management sees demand it can’t currently serve.

Skeptics see a foundry business that’s still losing money every quarter while its spending keeps rising. In their reading, Intel stock is priced on a manufacturing turnaround that hasn’t yet proved it can win outside customers at scale.

AMD stock has gained slightly more this year than Intel stock, while NVIDIA stock has advanced far less than either. That split shows an uneven 2026. The year has rewarded the group’s biggest names unevenly (we studied what the early signals of monster chip runs look like in a free guide here: The Next NVIDIA Playbook). A run this large also leaves AMD stock facing the same hold-or-trim question as Intel shares.

What to Watch Next

The next key question for Intel is whether external foundry customers commit in volume, with signed orders that go beyond announcements. Shareholders can watch for whether the rising capital spending starts to narrow the foundry loss or increase it.

Gains this large can reverse quickly, and the pullback in Intel stock offers a small reminder of how fast sentiment can shift. Investors holding shares of any of these chipmakers should size their positions so that a sharp reversal wouldn’t hurt their broader portfolio.

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