Intel Stock Rises After Trump Posts Apple-Intel Chip Deal

Intel announced that Apple has agreed to work with the company to design and build chips in the United States, and President Donald Trump posted the claim on his social media platform Thursday. Intel shares rose about 2.7% in after-hours trading after gaining as much as 5.7% overnight following the post.

Trump also wrote that Nvidia and Tesla’s Elon Musk had agreed to work with Intel on U.S. chip production. Earlier this year, reports indicated Intel reached a preliminary agreement to manufacture some chips for Apple after more than a year of discussions.

An Apple contract would provide Intel with steady demand from one of the world’s largest consumer electronics companies and represent a return to collaboration after Apple shifted away from Intel processors in Mac computers and moved to custom silicon.

Intel has been expanding its foundry business, signing agreements with the U.S. government and attracting investments from companies including Nvidia and SoftBank. Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan has led the effort to rebuild manufacturing operations. Intel’s stock is up more than 205% year to date.

The company recently introduced its 18A-P manufacturing process and reported that it delivers about 9% higher performance, 18% lower power use and 20% to 40% better thermal resistance than its existing 18A node. Intel said 18A-P has entered risk production, a low-volume phase used to test full wafers for defect rates and manufacturing variability before scaling to larger output.

In remarks to an investing group, Jim Cramer named Intel his “new favorite stock” and urged investors to focus on the company’s future growth rather than past rallies. He added that rapid buildouts of AI infrastructure could push demand for processors beyond current supply and affect pricing for chipmakers.

Analyst Ben Bajarin at Creative Strategies described Intel as capable of scaling capacity to serve as a second source for Apple. Intel’s foundry efforts previously faced manufacturing delays and yield challenges, and the company still primarily produces chips for its own product lines.

The 18A-P risk-production start and reported interest from major customers will require confirmed contracts and volume production to demonstrate consistent yields and large-scale manufacturing. Investors reacted to the claims by sending the stock higher in extended trading.