Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan Reportedly Says ‘Multiple Customers’ Eyeing Foundry Tie-Up

• For Tan, who took over as Intel CEO last year, turning around the foundry unit is one of the top priority items.
• After signing foundry deals with Tesla and Google, Intel is reportedly in talks with Apple to secure manufacturing contracts for certain chips that power Apple devices.
• Intel shares have tripled year to date.

Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan said on Monday confirmed that Intel’s foundry business had “multiple customers engaged” with them, and that improvements in its 14A and 18A processes are driving increased interest from customers.

In an interview on CNBC’s Mad Money, Tan said, “Foundry is very important… it’s a national treasure, because 90% plus of the most advanced processors are manufactured outside the country. So I think it’s important to bring some of that back.”

“Now some of the customers are coming knocking on my door, saying Lip-Bu, can you now open up also for outside customers. And that is very exciting,” he said.

While improving processes, Intel is aggressively looking to bring on big-ticket customers for its foundry business. For Tan, who took over last year, turning around the foundry unit is one of the top priority items.

Intel was recently contracted to produce certain chips for Tesla’s Terafab data center complex and co-develop certain data center chips with Google. Intel is rumored to be in talks with Apple to produce chips for its devices, a potential deal that could bring in $10 billion in annual revenue, according to Bank of America.

Refusing to name discussions with potential customers, Tan said, “I don't disclose of a customer. But you can draw the line, look at the customer from Intel, from Cadence, some of them, they trust me, they want to work with me."

Advanced Chips, Data Center CPU Demand Power INTC

Earlier this year, Intel unveiled new PC processors, “Panther Lake,” built on its 18A process – roughly equivalent to a 2-nanometer-class node – which the company said is the most advanced semiconductor manufacturing process ever developed and produced in the U.S.

Intel’s shares have tripled this year, drawing heightened investor interest. In the last quarter, revenue rose 7% to $13.6 billion, beating Wall Street estimates by roughly 9%, while Data Center and AI sales climbed 22% to $5.05 billion.

Intel Foundry’s operating loss narrowed to $2.4 billion, improving by $72 million sequentially, helped by better yields across Intel 4, 3, and 18A processes.

Higher demand for CPUs, which Intel specializes in, for AI workloads has been a major catalyst, according to Tan. “CPU to GPU ratio for training used to 1:8. And now, because of the inference, agentic AI, and more agents you have to manage, CPU is actually better, and that ratio has become 1:4 and in some cases 1:1. That’s a huge opportunity for me.”  

Retail View On INTC

On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment for INTC remained ‘bearish’ early Tuesday, unchanged since the prior day. Still, traders appeared uninterested in paring their stakes despite the sharp gains and speculated that more positive developments could be on the horizon.

“i'm predicting big news tomorrow. LBT (CEO Lip-Bu Tan) isn't about to do this big media tour and investor meetings without a big news announcement in his pocket. What could it be? Another HUGE multi year contract customer?” said a trader.

Another wrote: “INTC you got to be seriously stupid to short this .. but please do so we can squeeze harder to the upside!!!! way undervalued still.”

Intel shares are up 193% year to date.

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