15 Best Data Center Stocks To Buy According to Jefferies, Citi and Wall Street Analysts

12. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)

Average Analyst Share Price Target Upside: 27%

Average Analyst Share Price Target: $25.48

Number of Hedge Fund Investors  in Q1 2024: 77

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) is the troubled chip maker whose shares fell more than 30% in August after its latest earnings saw the firm miss analyst revenue and EPS estimates. The firm is struggling to deliver on a turnaround plan led by its CEO Patrick Gelsinger, who is eagerly trying to retake Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)’s manufacturing edge in chip fabrication. The firm has lost its crown to Taiwan’s TSMC, and its investors weren’t impressed in August when the firm also announced that it would not only stop paying dividends but also lay off a stunning 15,000 employees to save $10 billion on costs. Letting go of this number of employees often means that a firm might be unable to operate normally, and the combined effect of these developments makes Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) quite risky. However, the firm is investing heavily in becoming a contract chipmaker for big wigs like NVIDIA, so if it ramps up its new business model, then coupled with up to $8.5 billion CHIPS funding from the US government could allow Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) to turn a leaf.

Here’s what Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)’s CEO had to say about its AI products the earnings call:

“In our largest and most profitable business, CCG, we continue to strengthen our position and execute well against our roadmap. The AI PC category is transforming every aspect of the compute experience and Intel is at the forefront of this category creating moment. Intel Core Ultra volume more than doubled sequentially in Q2 and is already powering AI capabilities across more than 300 applications and 500 AI models.

This is an ongoing testament to the strong ecosystem we have nurtured through 40 years of consistent investments. We have now shipped more than 15 million Windows AI PCs since our December launch, multiples more than all of our competitors combined, and we remain on track to ship more than 40 million AI PCs by year end, and over 100 million accumulative by the end of 2025. Lunar Lake, our next-generation AI PC, which achieved production release ahead of schedule in July, will be the next industry-wide catalyst for device refresh. Lunar Lake delivers superior performance at half the power with 50% better graphics performance and 40% more power efficiency versus the prior generation. Lunar Lake delivers 3 times more tops Gen-on-Gen with our enhanced NPU and will be the ultimate AI CPU on the shelf for the holiday cycle.”