Shares of beaten down Intel (INTC) are looking to make it three-in-a-row as shares are rising 1.7% in pre-market trading on Wednesday.
The woebegone semiconductor stock jumped 6.1% on Tuesday following comments by Vice President J.D. Vance said the Trump administration was committed to protecting U.S. artificial intelligence technology from malicious threats by foreign governments. He also urged European regulators to reverse regulations that target AI.
INTC stock rose $1.20 to $20.97 per share. Since closing at $19.10 per share on Friday -- its lowest price in 14 years -- shares of the chipmaker are up almost 10%.
Intel faces a host of problems. The processor market's move to AI left Intel behind as it fails to make a product that can rival Nvidia's (NVDA) advanced AI accelerators, or Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), for that matter. And AMD keeps chipping away at Intel's lead in PCs and servers.
The chipmaker tried to position itself as an alternative to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM), but has failed to make any inroads there, and, in fact, has lost customers to its rival.
Intel is also without a CEO after the board pushed Pat Gelsinger out in December while its AI and data center chief Justin Hotard left the company to take a position at Nokia (NOK).
Interim Co-CEO Michelle Holthaus says Intel is making progress in the traditional data center and the AI data center market, but still has a long way to go. "This is going to be a journey. It's not a destination," she told analysts on Intel's quarterly earnings conference call.
Intel previously announced plans to invest $100 million in U.S. manufacturing and plans to build "the largest AI chip manufacturing site in the world." The Trump administration's plans to protect such projects to ensure U.S. leadership are what helped drive yesterday's surge.
Such policies are having Investors are take an interest in Intel once again.
