Analyst: ‘Never Bet Against’ Intel (INTC)

We recently published a list of 10 AI Stocks to Watch Amid DeepSeek Impact. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) stands against other AI stocks to watch amid DeepSeek impact.

The launch of DeepSeek is drawing new battle lines in the AI competition and many analysts believe the technology investment landscape won’t be the same again after the Chinese breakthrough. Talking to CNBC, Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi said that DeepSeek would result in “distillation” where companies will make smaller, more efficient models based on the technology:

“So we’re going to just see distillation happening left and right. It’s already happening—like, there’s so many versions of DeepSeek that have been reproduced and redone just in the last week as we speak. So this distillation is going to just create so much competition at the LLM or the AI layer.”

In the coming days, it would be interesting to see how American AI companies tackle this challenge and come up with new products or breakthroughs to maintain their dominance.

READ ALSO 7 Best Stocks to Buy For Long-Term and 8 Cheap Jim Cramer Stocks to Invest In

For this article, we picked 10 AI stocks that are trending on the back of latest news. With each stock we have mentioned the number of hedge fund investors. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).

Analyst: ‘Never Bet Against’ Intel (INTC)

A laptop and a computer monitor display a detailed stock market technical analysis chart. Photo by Jakub Zerdzicki on Pexels

Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 68

Oliver Blanchard from The Futurum Group in a latest program on Schwab Network said that Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) is a wait-and-see play despite the company being a major player in the industry. The analyst said we should not “bet against” Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) but recommended investors to wait.

“Intel’s going through some things right now. There’s a change of leadership. I have full confidence in the leadership team now—I think they’re in really good shape—but they have some decisions to make. They kind of fell behind on a few things; there have been some misses that they’re still catching up on. So, for me, Intel is kind of like a “wait and see.” Never bet against Intel. I think they’re a really strong company, they’re vital to this ecosystem, and they’re doing some really great things. I think they’re caught up when it comes to the AI PC race, and they moved a lot faster than a lot of people expected them to. But it’s—we’ll see. Let’s wait and see what happens in the next three months with Intel.”

It would take years for Intel to make a comeback. The company has scrapped its plans to launch Falcon Shores, its next-generation AI GPUs. A few months back it was a key catalyst expected to debut in late 2025. Intel’s Clearwater Forest AI data center server CPUs, which were set to use its 18A chip (similar to TSMC’s 3nm nodes), have had their launch delayed from FY2025 to FY2026. These setbacks are likely to affect Intel’s already struggling Data Center & AI business segment. Consensus expectations suggest the company won’t see positive free cash flow for at least the next three years.

Invesco Growth and Income Fund stated the following regarding Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:

“Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC): The chipmaker reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results as revenues declined and earnings were below expectations. Management also provided weaker guidance going forward; the stock fell on the news. We sold the position during the quarter.

The chipmaker’s quarterly earnings report was weaker than anticipated as revenues declined and earnings were below expectations. Management also provided weaker guidance going forward. Given that a potential recovery appears to be further in the future than we originally anticipated, we sold the position.”

Overall, INTC ranks 9th on our list of AI stocks to watch amid DeepSeek impact. While we acknowledge the potential of INTC, our conviction lies in the belief that under the radar AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than INTC but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and Complete List of 59 AI Companies Under $2 Billion in Market Cap

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.