Intel shares rallied 16.1% on Tuesday following a Wall Street Journal report that both Broadcom and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing are potentially weighing bids that could result in splitting the embattled chipmaker.
TakeAway Points:
- Broadcom and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing may be considering separate agreements that may split troubled chipmaker Intel.
- As the entire semiconductor industry has been swept up by the artificial intelligence tailwinds, Intel has lost billions of dollars in market value.
- Apptronik, a competitor of Tesla in the robotics space, announced a $350 million Series A fundraising round in which Google is a participant.
Intel’s stock increase
The stock closed at $27.39 and notched its best day since March 2020.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Broadcom may consider a play for the company’s chip design and marketing segment, citing people familiar with the matter, while TSMC is interested in a stake or complete control of Intel’s factories. The companies have not filed bids and talks are largely informal, the Journal reported.
The iconic American chipmaker’s stock has continued to sink lower in recent years, shedding billions in market value. Intel fell behind on the artificial intelligence tailwinds that have swept up the broader semiconductor sector.
In August, shares suffered their worst day on the stock market in 50 years and hit their lowest level since 2013 after the company posted disappointing quarterly results. Intel also said it would axe 15% of its employees.
By September, CNBC confirmed that competitor Qualcomm had approached the company about a potential takeover, citing a person familiar with the matter. The Intel board ousted CEO Pat Gelsinger in December as the stock underperformed and confidence dwindled in his ability to turn around the embattled chipmaker.
Last week, shares popped 6% after Vice President JD Vance said America will protect AI technologies from foreign adversaries and promised that more AI chips would be made on U.S. soil.
With Tuesday’s gains, shares are up nearly 31% this year following a 60% slump in 2024. Broadcom shares dipped 1.9%, while Taiwan Semi dipped less than 0.6%.
Google To Participate In A $350 Million Funding Round For Apptronik
Apptronik, a rival of Tesla in robotics development, announced a $350 million Series A investment round Thursday morning to expand the manufacturing of humanoid robots driven by AI.
The funding round was co-led by B Capital and Capital Factory and included backing from Google, CEO Jeff Cardenas said in an exclusive “Squawk Box” interview Thursday.
Apptronik, a Texas-based robotics developer founded in 2016, previously raised $28 million and is currently working on deploying what the company calls a “groundbreaking” humanoid robot designed for industrial work named Apollo.
“What’s happening in robotics is robots, with the power of AI, are becoming much more versatile,” Cardenas said. “Now we’re getting these robots out into the world in a pretty big way and scaling them up and going from industry and into the home in the future,” Cardenas added.
The new funding will allow the company to scale its robot development to potentially address applications such as manufacturing and health care. The robots will be trained separately from humans on repetitive tasks, Cardenas said, before they begin integrating into human life.
Apptronik partnerships in robotic development
Apptronik has partnered with NASA and Nvidia as it works on iterations of robots that rival those of Elon Musk’s Tesla Optimus. The company has developed 15 robotic systems, including NASA’s humanoid robot Valkyrie.
“The target price is for these robots to be less than the price of a car, so we’ve been working over the years, we’re on our ninth iteration of human robot,” Cardenas said. “These robots are going to get much more affordable over time.”
The company is also working with Google DeepMind to work on developing the AI driving the robotics technology.
Tesla has also moved into the fast-evolving humanoid robotics industry with the Tesla Optimus robot. According to Goldman Sachs, the global market for humanoid robots could reach $38 billion by 2035.
“I think we’re right there in the race,” Cardenas said. “I think what this round represents is that our investors are really backing us and think that we have a real shot at winning this race,” the CEO added.
