Goldman Sachs’ List Of Stocks That Hedge & Mutual Funds Love & Hate: 28 Stocks On The Mutual and Hedge Funds Radar

26. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q2 2024: 75

Category: Shorted by HFs and underweight among mutual funds

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) is the iconic American chip manufacturing giant that is widely heralded for having introduced the microprocessor to consumer markets. It is one of the oldest firms of its kind, but 2010 and onward have seen it struggle to compete globally. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) is currently one of 2024’s worst performers as its shares are down 51% year to date. The drop has come on the back of lower profits, a dividend suspension, and an eager technology roadmap that is expected to yield results only in 2025 or beyond. Additionally, while semiconductor stocks have seen AI induced tailwinds, Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)’s lack of a strong GPU product to compete with either NVIDIA or AMD has left the firm struggling to retain investor attention. Consequently, investors are now focused on Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)’s efforts to woo big ticket firms like NVIDIA with its contract manufacturing subsidiary and the firm’s 18A manufacturing process which promises to be the most advanced in the world once it launches.

ClearBridge Investments mentioned Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) in its Q3 2024 investor letter. Here is what the fund said:

“While the market environment clearly was a headwind in the third quarter, several of our large positions also faced challenging conditions, which negatively impacted results. In the information technology (IT) sector, Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) has come under additional pressure due to continued softness in the company’s core PC and server markets as well as concerns on the company’s longer-term competitive position. While Intel’s turnaround is not happening overnight, we are constructive on the outlook into 2025: the company’s product positioning should be much improved and it should be positioned to gain market share in a cyclical upswing in which it has strong earnings power. A somewhat adverse spending environment due to AI myopia has weighed on shares, but we still think the market is undershipping PCs and general servers following a COVID normalization period that saw demand get pulled ahead and then languish as companies froze IT budgets. The installed base is now getting older, and we expect a strong refresh cycle into next year. The delay is actually beneficial to Intel, whose product positioning will be all the more improved. While our investment case is not predicated on an M&A transaction, and we believe one is unlikely, the expression of interest in the company speaks to the value of the assets, which we think still trade at a meaningful discount to fair value.”