Intel shares jumped as much as 6.9% in early trading on Monday following reports of a U.S. military operation in Venezuela, which investors speculated could shift geopolitical risks away from Taiwan and toward alternative chip suppliers. By mid-afternoon, however, the stock had relinquished nearly all of those gains and finished the day flat. Over the same period, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite each rose roughly 0.6%, highlighting how Intel’s move was driven by idiosyncratic factors rather than broader market trends.

Intel’s foundry division, long overshadowed by the world’s dominant contract manufacturer, faces a make-or-break year. After years of capacity shortfalls and missed contract wins, the unit must secure major orders for advanced artificial-intelligence chips in 2026 to justify recent capital investments. Success could tilt the company’s growth trajectory, but failure to attract hyperscaler spending risks leaving its $188 billion market-cap foundry effort underutilized.

At the CES trade show in Las Vegas, Intel is set to unveil Panther Lake—the first mobile processor built on its 18A manufacturing node. The new AI-focused chip promises up to 50% higher performance per watt compared with the prior generation and integrates a neural processing unit capable of accelerating on-device inference tasks. Intel executives are using the launch to reassure investors that the 18A ramp is on schedule and that capacity constraints will ease by mid-2026.