Intel Boosts Cyber Threat Detection With Acronis Deal: A Gamechanger?

Intel Corporation INTC has collaborated with Acronis, a global leader in cybersecurity and data protection, to boost artificial intelligence (AI)-driven cyber threat detection in endpoint devices without compromising on performance. The partnership will leverage OpenVINO (Open Visual Inference and Neural Network Optimization) – an open-source toolkit from Intel to deploy deep learning models for high-performance AI inference – to offload heavy AI tasks such as behavioral heuristics and anomaly scoring to Intel NPU. This will reduce CPU load, optimize performance and extend battery life, thereby offering breakthrough cyber protection with lower latency.

By combining Intel’s AI PC platform and Acronis’ integrated cyber protection, the collaboration empowers managed service providers to deliver enterprise-grade security with consumer-level simplicity. With a natively integrated solution that incorporates cybersecurity, endpoint and posture management, data protection, automated backups and disaster recovery, Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud offers real-time AI-driven security scan through frameworks supported by Intel NPUs.

Intel's comprehensive approach to the AI market is unparalleled, covering semiconductor manufacturing to PC, network, edge and data center systems. Intel's innovative AI solutions are set to benefit the broader semiconductor ecosystem by driving down costs, improving performance and fostering an open, scalable AI environment. These advancements not only position Intel as a leader in AI but also catalyze industries to embrace AI's transformative potential, paving the way for unprecedented innovation and growth.

How are Competitors Faring?

Intel faces fierce competition from Qualcomm Incorporated QCOM and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. AMD in this market. Qualcomm took the market by storm with the launch of the Snapdragon X chip for mid-range AI desktops and laptops. This SoC is the fourth such product in the Snapdragon X processor line, following the successful launch of the Snapdragon X Plus 8-core, Snapdragon X Plus and Snapdragon X Elite series. Several OEMs such as Dell, ASUS and Samsung are expanding their collaboration with Qualcomm to develop AI PCs.

AMD’s flagship Ryzen AI 300 Series is also witnessing broad industrywide adoption. With strong AI computing and integrated graphics, processors like AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 can pose a major challenge to leading-edge processors like Intel Core Ultra 9 Processor 185H.

INTC’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates

Intel shares have gained 23% over the past year compared with the industry’s growth of 49.1%.

Going by the price/sales ratio, the company's shares currently trade at 2.03 forward sales, lower than 15.91 for the industry. 

Earnings estimates for 2025 have decreased 46.4% to 15 cents per share over the past 60 days, while the same for 2026 have declined 5.6% to 68 cents.

Intel stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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