Intel's stock has tripled under Lip-Bu Tan, as relationships with Trump, Musk, and Apple surpass the company's current manufacturing execution needs.

      TL;DR: Intel's stock has tripled under Lip-Bu Tan's leadership, who has garnered support from Trump, collaborated with Musk, and piqued Apple's interest. The critical question is whether these relationships will lead to the successful manufacturing execution that Intel has struggled with for the past decade.

      Intel's stock has tripled in a year, yet the CEO has not shared his plans with the majority of his staff. Lip-Bu Tan, who took over as CEO in March 2025, has dedicated his first fourteen months to building external partnerships rather than restructuring the internal organization. He has gained the support of Donald Trump, forged a partnership with Elon Musk, captured Apple’s interest, and made the U.S. government Intel’s third-largest shareholder. The stock reached an all-time high in April, climbing 24 percent in a single day, marking its best performance since 1987. Shares rose 114 percent in April alone, the best month in Intel’s 55-year history on the Nasdaq.

      The central question remains whether these relationships can facilitate the manufacturing success that Intel has not achieved for a decade. Over a dozen current and former employees have informed Bloomberg that Tan has not clearly articulated his plan to address product and manufacturing issues. The core challenges persist: Intel needs to create products that can regain lost market share while ensuring manufacturing quality that convinces competitors to invest billions for access. Neither outcome is guaranteed.

      In August 2025, the U.S. government invested $8.9 billion in Intel, securing a 9.9 percent stake at $20.47 per share, which has now grown to roughly $36 billion. This investment, which included CHIPS Act grants and funding for a secure chip program, made the government a significant shareholder. It followed a White House meeting in which Tan transformed a public confrontation with Trump into an agreement, reportedly involving support from Michael Dell and other industry figures.

      The Terafab partnership with Musk’s SpaceX, xAI, and Tesla aims to establish a large chip factory complex in Texas with an initial investment of $55 billion and a total projected cost of up to $119 billion. This collaboration stemmed from Tan’s personal discussions with Musk over time and surprised many of Intel’s other executives. Tesla intends to utilize Intel’s upcoming 14A manufacturing process, with the xAI’s AI5 chip among the first products slated for production at the facility.

      Apple has engaged in preliminary discussions with Intel and Samsung regarding the potential production of its major device chips in the U.S., a move that could be transformative for Intel’s foundry business if these early conversations progress. Apple currently sources nearly all of its processors from TSMC in Taiwan. A shift in this direction would significantly validate Intel’s manufacturing goals since Tan’s appointment.

      In his initial interview as CEO, Tan acknowledged the external focus. “Intel has the technology, talent, and scale to lead again, but leadership is earned through execution,” he stated. He aims to complete an internal leadership recruitment drive by the end of June.

      The execution challenge is measurable. According to New Street Research, Intel's cost per chip is about three times that of TSMC, the industry leader. The largest contributor to this gap, over 40 percent, is related to yield—the percentage of usable chips produced during manufacturing runs. Intel's yield rate is approximately 65 percent, while TSMC's exceeds 80 percent. Only 8 percent of the cost difference is due to higher labor costs in the U.S.

      Intel's 18A manufacturing process, essential for the company's foundry future, is progressing but is not yet competitive. Intel’s Computex 2026 lineup is centered around 18A technology, incorporating Panther Lake mobile chips and 288-core Clearwater Forest server processors, but yield levels are not expected to meet industry standards until 2027. Recently, the company missed demand partly because it had not allocated sufficient production capacity for the resurgence in data center chip orders.

      Naga Chandrasekaran, who has overseen Intel’s factory operations for nearly two years after his arrival from Micron, stated that one of his primary objectives is to regain the confidence of Intel’s product teams, which currently outsource some vital chips to TSMC. However, even regaining internal demand may not be enough. “Intel products alone, even in a wildly successful scenario, cannot fund the capital and fill the fabs and the scale that’s needed to be successful in the silicon business today,” he noted.

      This level of candor is uncommon for a company that previously characterized its decline in optimistic terms under prior leadership. Pat Gelsinger, Tan’s predecessor, did not articulate the dire state during three years of losses and a 33 percent revenue drop from the 2021 peak.

      The culture within Intel has also been highlighted, with Kevork Kechichian, whom Tan recruited to manage the server chip unit from Qualcomm and Arm, noting an internal culture that has grown