AI chip stocks pulled back after Intel Corporation (INTC) reversed gains on May 12, 2026, amid profit-taking and inflation concerns clouding data-center demand. The company reported a rebound in AI-related sales, while Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) posted stronger-than-expected first-quarter revenue and raised guidance.

Intel reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of $13.6 billion, a 7.0% increase year-over-year. AI-related sales accounted for about 60.0% of total revenue and rose roughly 40.0% from the prior year. The Data Center and AI unit generated $5.1 billion, up 22.0% year-over-year.

Following a multi-week rally, Intel stock fell about 10.0% as investors took profits amid concerns that inflation could dampen data-center spending. U.S. regulators approved Intel’s increased investment in AI chip developer SambaNova Systems, enabling deeper collaboration. Some analysts estimate that if AI demand persists, Intel’s earnings could roughly double over one to two years.

AMD reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of $10.3 billion on May 5, 2026, up 38.0% year-over-year and exceeding a $9.9 billion consensus. The company provided second-quarter revenue guidance of about $11.2 billion. These stronger results and outlook have renewed investor interest in CPU and AI chip stocks amid ongoing sector volatility.

INTC surged after reports of a preliminary Apple chip deal, adding to gains fueled by AI growth and strong foundry demand.

Intel Soars on Preliminary Apple Chip Deal Reports: More Room to Run?

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) trended this week after multiple Wall Street firms raised their price forecasts, citing accelerating AI-driven semiconductor spending, rising demand for advanced memory chips, and expanding investment in next-generation chip manufacturing facilities.

Analysts Say Applied Materials Is Built For The AI Chip Supercycle

A new UBS report warns of market share losses for Intel. Rivals AMD and ARM are taking away Intel's AI server market share.

Why Intel Stock Slumped Today

Intel (INTC) has seen its foundry segment finally gain momentum after enduring years of challenges. The company's 18A process node, which is its most sophisticated to date, is now in commercial production.

Can Intel Stock Reclaim The Silicon Throne?

While momentum-driven valuations have been stretched, growth visibility still justifies the price for high-quality stocks, as AI-related capex spending is projected to continue at a fast pace in 2026. The AI semiconductor opportunity extends beyond mega-cap names, with critical roles played across memory, connectivity, optical interconnects, power efficiency, and compute infrastructure. In a market that is growing increasingly volatile and uncertain, Quant is a good tool to find high-conviction stocks to hold through the ups and downs.

Best Of AI: Highest Quant-Rated Semiconductor Stocks

Intel stock has led the chip rally but it faces fierce competition from Arm and Advanced Micro Devices.

Intel Stock Drops. It's Losing Ground to AMD and Arm.

Although the chip complex has spent the last six months looking unstoppable, Wall Street is starting to whisper that the heat may finally be coming out of the trade.

Wall Street Is Worried About a ‘Sizzling' Semiconductor Trade. History Says Cooling Periods Like This Set Up the Next Leg Higher

Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ: AMD used its 2026 Annual Stockholders Meeting to secure shareholder approval for its director slate and key governance items, while Chair and CEO Lisa Su outlined the company's growth strategy centered on artificial intelligence and data center computing.

Advanced Micro Devices Shareholders Back Board as Lisa Su Touts AI Growth

Craig Johnson, Chief Market Technician at Piper Sandler, used his CNBC Morning Call Sheet appearance to flag concerns for self-directed investors riding the AI trade.

Wall Street's Top Chartist Warns US Tech Stocks Now At Highest Concentration Since the 2000 Bubble

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed at fresh record highs on Wednesday as investors continued piling into artificial intelligence-related technology shares, brushing aside another hotter-than-expected inflation report and growing expectations that the Federal Reserve may keep interest rates elevated for longer. The broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.58% to close at 7,444.25, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.2% to 26,402.34.

Dow Jones slips while S&P 500 hits record high on AI chip rally

Intel shares have surged by +200% since late March on investor excitement about the CPU Renaissance and potential customers for its foundry business. The rally, which has pushed Intel past its dot-com era highs, prices in an unconfirmed preliminary Apple foundry agreement reported by the WSJ last week. Intel is becoming increasingly risky from a fundamental perspective as the stock and valuation have now baked in all potential positives, leaving no room for bad news.

Intel: Trade The Apple Rally, Don't Marry It

We're upgrading Qualcomm Incorporated to a Buy, with smartphone headwinds now priced in and AI diversification finally here. QCOM's China handset business is bottoming out, and the Apple share risk is quantified, derisking the core business outlook. The custom silicon engagement with a (big) hyperscaler signals design wins with shipments scheduled for the December quarter and details for Investor Day in June.

Qualcomm: The Cheapest AI Winner (Rating Upgrade)

It's not just Nvidia (NVDA). Other semiconductor stocks, including Broadcom (AVGO), are surging this year, as the artificial intelligence (AI) build out continues in earnest.

This Semiconductor ETF Can Continue Sizzling

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC | INTC Price Prediction) shares have gone vertical.

Intel's Run Has Gone From Strong to Surreal. Now, the Profit-Taking Debate Is Heating Up

The current AI-driven equity rally mirrors late-1990s Internet Boom extremes, with valuations at or above historic bubble territory. Semiconductor stocks like MU and INTC have soared, pricing in years of future earnings on the back of unprecedented AI data center capex.

The Markets Are Bucking History

MPWR edges INTC in this AI chip showdown, despite pricier valuation, on a stronger growth outlook and power solutions demand.

Intel vs. Monolithic: Which Semiconductor Stock is the Better Buy?

Several semiconductor stocks are on the rise as several industry CEOs join President Trump on his China trip.

These Chip Stocks Are Rising as CEOs Join Trump at China Summit

Nasdaq holds firm on AI momentum as rising yields, hot PPI data and elevated oil prices pressure the Dow Jones and broader stock market.

Nasdaq Index: AI Momentum Keeps Stock Market Stable Despite Hot PPI

Semiconductor stocks have become an unusually large force in the U.S. stock market, underscoring how much of the latest rally in indexes like the S&P 500 has been powered by the artificial-intelligence trade.

Semiconductor names have never before held this much sway over the stock market. History shows that could be a problem.

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC | INTC Price Prediction) is the stock of the moment, riding a 250.79% year-to-date melt-up and dominating every chip headline.

Forget Intel: Here Is the Chip Stock Wall Street Is Sleeping On

Although Qualcomm (QCOM) shares have mostly missed out on the AI-fueled semiconductor surge in recent years, circumstances seem to have shifted for the company, with the stock increasing by nearly 70% in the last month as Qualcomm prepares for the next stage of AI, which extends beyond centralized computing to encompass billions of interconnected devices. In our earlier assessment, we highlighted how Qualcomm's stock could potentially double, spurred by edge AI.

Why Qualcomm's AI Rally Is Just Starting

Shares of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) up 4,171% since 1992's initial outlier inflow.

AI-Boosted Earnings Keep Institutions Buying AMD

The old market saying tells investors to “Sell in May and go away,” parking proceeds until the historically stronger fall months.

Intel Has Tripled in 2026. The Sell in May Case for the Year's Biggest Comeback Story

Nasdaq 100 extended its medium-term bullish trend to a fresh record high of 29,390, supported largely by explosive gains in semiconductor and AI-related stocks such as Intel, Advanced Micro Devices, and Sandisk. The strong correlation between the Nasdaq 100 and the iShares Semiconductor ETF suggests that emerging exhaustion signals in semiconductor stocks could trigger a near-term corrective pullback in the broader tech-heavy index.

Nasdaq 100 Faces Pullback Risk As Semiconductor Rally Shows Signs Of Exhaustion

Following several years of relative stagnation despite the acceleration of the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, the stock of Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) entered a strong rally in 2026, effectively doubling in value from $214.16 at the end of 2025 to $460.43 at press time on May 13.

Analyst issues new AMD stock price target

Intel stock, AMD and Qualcomm were rising Wednesday as investors rush back into the AI chip trade.

Intel, AMD, Qualcomm Stocks Rise as AI Chip Rally Reignites

Shares of major semiconductor companies retreated sharply on Tuesday as investors locked in gains following a powerful rally driven by optimism around artificial intelligence infrastructure and next-generation chip demand. Intel (INTC) fell about 10% in trading after the stock more than doubled over the past month through Monday's close.

Why are Intel, Qualcomm, AMD stocks falling today?

Ambiq Micro reports strong quarterly sales growth, driven by demand for remote artificial-intelligence solutions.

This AI Chip Stock Is Rising 30%. ‘Edge AI' Takes the Spotlight.

Chip stocks dropped on Tuesday as investors hit risk-off mode following a hot inflation print. Qualcomm, Intel and Micron have benefited from a recent shift in AI leadership from Nvidia.

Qualcomm drops 13% as chip stocks pull back from record AI-driven rally

Intel (INTC) has rebounded sharply, driven by AI demand and strategic manufacturing moves, with a Buy rating maintained despite a rapid rally. INTC's transformation into a leading fab, securing major deals and benefiting from government support, positions it to capitalize on persistent AI supply bottlenecks. Current earnings estimates may be conservative; INTC could double EPS in the next year or two if AI momentum persists.

Intel: The Path To AI Sovereignty

Intel is experiencing volatility; despite a sharp rebound from AI demand and strategic moves, shares fell 10% due to profit-taking and inflation fears. However, positive AI momentum could double Intel's earnings if sustained, while AI chip interest is drawing investors back to stocks like AMD and Qualcomm.

AI chip stocks pulled back as Intel reversed gains; AMD's Q1 beat and guidance renewed AI-chip flows amid profit-taking and inflation pressure.

AI Chip Stocks Retreat As Intel Reverses

Nvidia SK Group AI partnership signals a multi-year push into data centers and memory and could prompt traders to reweight data-center and memory plays.

Nvidia SK Group AI Partnership Expands Data Center Push

Paramount pauses Warner Bros. deal; the court-ordered pause and ticking fee raise cost and timing uncertainty, with a $7 million per day penalty for delays.

Paramount Pauses Warner Bros. Deal

Lamb Weston earnings topped guidance as North America volume offset weakness; a $0.38 dividend adds yield against modest fiscal 2027 targets.

Lamb Weston Earnings Beat Guidance, Sets Dividend

Open-weight AI models won backing from 25 companies led by Nvidia and Microsoft, a stance that could reshape U.S. AI policy and cloud-compute demand.

Open-Weight AI Models Backed by Nvidia and Microsoft

SLB Q2 earnings show offshore and data-center demand offsetting Middle East disruptions and support clearer earnings and cash-flow signals for traders.

SLB Q2 Earnings Beat Expectations

Intel earnings beat and Q3 guidance topped consensus as AI data center demand supports a turnaround while GAAP losses and heavy capex keep traders wary.

AI Chip Stocks Retreat As Intel Reverses

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