Intel sees a spurt in share price as its data center business grows

After cloud computing demand fired up the chipmaker’s data center business and alleviated concerns of market share loss to rival AMD, Intel Corp’s shares hit their highest in nearly two decades last Friday.

Revenue at Intel’s data center business jumped 19% and sales to cloud computing providers surged 48% year-over-year in the fourth quarter.

At least 15 brokerages raised their price targets on Intel’s stock, with J.P. Morgan making the most aggressive move by boosting its target by $12 to $80, well above the median price target of $65.

Shares of AMD, which will report earnings next week, rose 1% to a record high. Nvidia shares were also up 1%. European chipmakers ASML Holding NV and STMicroelectronics NV rose almost 2%.

Intel's stock was up 8.6% at $68.75, a level it has not seen since the peak of the dotcom boom in 2000, propelling the broader NASDAQ.

Other major chipmakers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd and Texas Instruments have also given upbeat forecasts this month, cementing hopes of a rebound in the market that fell nearly 12% in 2019, according to research firm Gartner.

However, Intel has struggled with delays in its 10nm chip technology, losing its lead to rival TSMC in the race to supply to the “new data economy”, which includes 5G, autonomous vehicles and artificial intelligence.

Intel has also been facing a shortage of PC chips, and the company said it would boost its capacity to make such chips, in a sign that the manufacturing woes that plagued chipmakers over the past year were starting to ease.