Intel surges 9% on Trump-backed Apple foundry deal

<cite index="6-2">Intel's stock rose around 9% in premarket trading on Thursday after President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that Apple had agreed to design and build chips with Intel in the United States</cite>. <cite index="2-3">Intel designed and supplied processors for Apple's Mac computers from 2006 until about 2020, when Apple moved to in-house chips</cite>. The deal marks a major reversal in both companies' trajectories after more than a year of discussions.

<cite index="7-2">The partnership helps Apple diversify its manufacturing base as it seeks additional chip capacity, given that the iPhone maker relies heavily on TSMC, whose advanced production lines are in high demand from AI chipmakers such as Nvidia and AMD</cite>. <cite index="7-2">Intel reached a preliminary deal to make some chips for Apple after more than a year of discussions, and an Apple contract gives Intel a steady demand from one of the world's largest consumer electronics companies, boosting both its reputation and a manufacturing business that has lagged TSMC in recent years</cite>.

<cite index="6-2">Intel's stock has surged 464% in the past 12 months, with the company hitting a market cap of $608.7 billion</cite>. <cite index="2-3">The changes were complemented by the U.S. government's acquisition of a 10% stake in the company last August, surging demand for AI data center chips, and a recent partnership with Nvidia</cite>. <cite index="2-4">Trump did not disclose which Apple chips Intel would manufacture, and Bloomberg had reported that Apple was considering contracting Intel and Samsung's foundries in the U.S. to produce certain main processors</cite>.

Architects should track this move: a major consumer electronics OEM broadening its foundry base away from TSMC—citing both capacity and resilience—signals softening PC/notebook demand at TSMC's margin profile, and confirms that advanced-node capacity outside Taiwan is becoming commercially viable at scale. Intel's ability to execute on both 18A yield ramp (currently below spec) and APPL's timing will determine whether this becomes a genuine fab diversification play or a marketing win with limited revenue impact.