Intel Has Doubled AMD's 2026 Gains. Is It Time to Rebalance Your Chip Stocks?

Intel shares trade near $119 and are essentially flat on the day, while AMD shares hover near $446 with only a slight decline. Intel’s year-to-date return is 222% in 2026, compared with AMD’s 108%, reversing the prior decade’s pattern where AMD gained share and outperformed on both products and stock performance. Intel is also ahead over shorter horizons, including 79% versus 57% over the past month and 474% versus 298% over one year. Over five years, AMD leads with 478% versus Intel’s 112%. Intel’s 2026 leadership is tied to a turnaround narrative, Q1 2026 non-GAAP EPS of $0.29 versus a $0.0127 consensus, $13.577 billion revenue, and 22% year-over-year Data Center and AI growth, alongside foundry progress and government support.

"Intel stock has returned 222% in 2026 so far, roughly twice AMD stock's 108% gain. That's a striking inversion of the last decade, when AMD steadily took share from Intel on both the product roadmap and the stock chart. For investors holding both names, the gap raises a practical question. Has Intel grown into an outsized slice of the chip sleeve of your portfolio?"

"The divergence shows up cleanly across timeframes. Intel stock is up 79% over the past month versus AMD stock's 57%, and Intel's one-year return of 474% tops AMD's 298%. Recent weeks have been quieter for both, with Intel down 2% over the past week and AMD essentially flat. Stretch the lens to five years, however, and the rankings flip. AMD stock has returned 478% over that window, versus Intel's 112%."

"The turnaround narrative under Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan caught fire early this year. Q1 2026 results reported on April 23, 2026 delivered non-GAAP EPS of $0.29 against a $0.0127 consensus, with revenue of $13.577 billion and Data Center and AI segment growth of 22% year over year. You can review the full filing in Intel's Q1 2026 8-K."

"Layer in foundry progress, U.S. government support for domestic semiconductor manufacturing, Citi's agentic CPU total addressable market thesis, and reported acquisition talks involving Tenstorrent, and you get a stock that started the year cheap and re-rated quickly. Tan"

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