Intel is now worth more than Oracle as its stock explodes higher

By Christine Ji

Intel is on track to surpass its record market-cap level achieved back in 2000, with enthusiasm building over the potential for a partnership with Apple

Intel's market capitalization reached a milestone $547 billion on Tuesday, surpassing software giant Oracle, as its shares gained 13%.

After leading the recent rally in the semiconductor sector, Intel's stock has ignited further on Wall Street's excitement over a reported Apple partnership.

Shares of Intel (INTC) jumped 12.9% on Tuesday after Bloomberg reported that Apple (AAPL) is considering partnering with Intel and Samsung (KR:005930) to manufacture chips in the United States. Discussions are in the early stages and no orders have been placed, according to the report.

Intel, Apple and Samsung did not immediately respond to a MarketWatch request for comment.

Intel had an intraday market capitalization of $547 billion, surpassing Oracle (ORCL) to become the 18th largest U.S. company, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Intel was in the 56th spot at the end of 2025.

The company is also set to surpass its own market-cap record of $501.51 billion that was set on Aug. 31, 2000.

Intel's stock is up 200% year to date, making it the best-performing name in the PHLX Semiconductor Index SOX. It's not the first time that a potential Big Tech partnership has sparked a positive move in the stock: Last week, a Trendforce report suggested that both Apple and Alphabet (GOOGL) (GOOG) were considering using Intel's Foundry technology for their chips.

A partnership with Apple would be a further vote of confidence in Intel's artificial-intelligence position, Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry told MarketWatch. Chowdhry, who has a buy rating on Intel's stock, believes that the company's 18A advanced node is key to manufacturing performance-efficient AI chips.

"For Intel specifically, the significance cannot be overstated, as landing the most demanding consumer of silicon in the world would serve as the ultimate validation of their 18A node and their broader foundry ambitions," Brad Gastwirth, global head of research and market intelligence at Circular Technology, told MarketWatch over email. It "would prove Intel can compete at a world-class level."

Read on: Is the Intel stock hype overdone? How to make sense of the latest big move.

If a partnership were to happen, it would mark a departure from Apple's traditional manufacturing playbook, as the company has partnered extensively with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TW:2330) in the past.

However, Apple is looking to expand its capacity to meet high demand for its products. On the company's earnings call last week, the iPhone maker flagged supply-chain bottlenecks driven by the availability of advanced nodes used to produce AI chips.

When it comes to AI chips, Intel is several years ahead of TSMC with its backside power-delivery capabilities, Chowdhry said.

John Ternus, who will take over as CEO of Apple in September, "is a hardware guy," and he "knows what new devices are going to come, which are going to be AI-native devices on the edge," Chowdhry added. "You cannot make those on TSMC's technology."

More: Why Intel's stock is on track for a historic surge after earnings

-Christine Ji

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05-05-26 1821ET