Why Did Intel Stock Pop on Wednesday?

Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) stock soared 10.8% through 11:35 a.m. ET Wednesday after Bernstein SocGen Group analyst Stacy Rasgon raised his price target from $35 to... $36.

Does a 10% stock price pop seem an overreaction to you, coming in response to a less than 3% increase in price target? It does to me -- especially when you notice that Intel stock already costs more than $53 a share!

In fact, Rasgon only rated Intel stock "market perform" and declined to upgrade it. But here's the thing: Rasgon isn't the only Wall Street analyst talking about Intel today.

Image source: Getty Images.

What's up with Intel stock today?

Seems to me, what's really driving Intel higher today is a different note from RBC Capital. Like Bernstein, RBC keeps a sector perform rating (essentially a "hold") on Intel stock. And yet, RBC also argued in its note that Intel will beat earnings in its upcoming Q4 financial report.

PC demand, says RBC, looks "OK," and server CPU demand is solid with supply constraints continuing into Q1 2026, as TheFly.com reports. This will all add up to just a "slight" earnings beat when Intel reports tomorrow, says RBC.

But a beat's a beat. And the prospect of seeing Intel beat earnings less than 24 hours from now seems to have sparked a wave of buying among investors.

Is Intel stock a buy?

Is that the smart play, buying Intel ahead of earnings just because one analyst thinks it's going to "beat" earnings -- while a second thinks Intel's overpriced? I have my doubts.

Beat or no beat, Intel's still unprofitable at last report, still burning cash, and neither of those things will change before 2027, according to analysts polled by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Intel's a hold at best; at worst, Intel's a sell.

Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Intel. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.