Oh dear. Apparently, the workers still at chip stock Intel (INTC)—the ones who survived the vast chain of layoffs—have been paying attention to the news. They also know their employer just picked up nearly $8 billion worth of taxpayer money, and they are starting to wonder just where that money is going. The questions are growing increasingly pointed, and Intel shares were down over 2.5% in Wednesday afternoon’s trading as a result.
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While Intel finally got its award confirmed—albeit for less than it originally expected thanks to a range of factors—the move still put Intel on track to “…drive one of the most significant semiconductor manufacturing expansions in U.S. history,” noted Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. But the move was not quite that popular with everybody else, as the workers are starting to wonder what is happening to this money. They are calling on Intel to be “more transparent” about the process of spending all that cash.
With all this new expansion, Intel will have to bring in a workforce ready to go. Considering it just fired a workforce that could have done just that, the question becomes one of where Intel will find people willing to work for someone who just fired a bunch of people. Moreover, there are concerns about “worker safety commitments” to consider, and Chips Communities United is looking for “a full environmental impact statement” for one of the fabrication operations in Arizona, noted an Ars Technica report.
New Battlemage Specs
Meanwhile, for those keeping track of the Battlemage graphics processing unit, new reports have emerged from Techradar detailing some of the new specs therein. And while there is some concern, the reports suggest this is more a matter of “…some give and take” than anything.
The Battlemage is set to come with 12 gigabytes of VRAM, and a 2.85 GHz boost clock speed, along with 160 Compute Units. This actually comes in line with an earlier rumor, this time about an AsRock B580 graphics card that also boasted 12 gigabytes of VRAM and a 2.8 GHz clock speed.
But there is concern; 160 Compute Units suggests 20 cores, and that is down from the 24 cores seen in the current Arc A580 GPU. It is worth noting, though, that the cores in the Battlemage will be newer, and thus, fewer of them are needed to reach parity with older models.
Is Intel a Buy, Hold, or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on INTC stock based on one Buy, 22 Holds, and seven Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 46.13% loss in its share price over the past year, the average INTC price target of $24.43 per share implies 3.82% upside potential.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
