Shares of Intel (INTC) jumped more than 7% on Thursday following a report the US government is considering taking a stake in the struggling chipmaker.
According to Bloomberg, the plan could see the government help Intel build out its planned chip complex in Ohio, which the company has had to delay as part of its ongoing turnaround effort. Intel announced the facility in 2022 with an initial investment of $20 billion that could grow to $100 billion over time.
The report follows President Trump’s meeting with Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan on Monday.
The Ohio site was supposed to include two new manufacturing plants and start producing chips by 2025, but that’s since been delayed into the 2030s. CEO Lip-Bu Tan, who took over when former CEO Pat Gelsinger was ousted by the company’s board due to the slow turnaround in 2024, has since delayed the plant even further.
The Trump administration is making a major push to reshore American chip manufacturing.
Intel and rivals TSMC (TSM), Samsung, and others have been working to build more chip fabrication plants in the US since the Biden administration signed the CHIPS Act in 2022.
Part of Intel’s plan under Gelsinger was to turn Intel into a contract chip manufacturer, similar to TSMC. But the gambit has run into trouble. So far, the foundry’s main customer is still Intel, and the company is reportedly facing headwinds in getting its 18A chip technology up to the level needed to satisfy clients.
Intel has signed agreements to build chips for Amazon (AMZN) and Microsoft (MSFT) using its chip designs.
Trump initially called for Tan to resign as CEO of Intel due to his investments in Chinese tech firms, but backed away from the stance after meeting with him on Monday.
Intel is still far away from making any meaningful headway in the AI space, ceding the market to both Nvidia and rival AMD.
Earlier this week, the White House announced the US government will take a 15% cut of the sale of Nvidia and AMD chips shipped to China, an unconventional arrangement that highlights the government’s increased focus on the semiconductor industry.
Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@yahoofinance.com. Follow him on X/Twitter at @DanielHowley.
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