Intel Jumps 1.65% with $3.47B in 22nd-Highest Trading Volume as SambaNova’s SN50 Poses New Competition to Nvidia’s AI Leadership

Intel Market Overview

On February 25, 2026, Intel (INTC) ended the trading session up by 1.65%, outpacing the broader market despite a notable 22.92% drop in trading volume, which settled at $3.47 billion compared to the previous day. Ranking 22nd in overall market activity, Intel demonstrated moderate liquidity. The reduced trading volume points to less short-term investor engagement, yet the stock’s price increase highlights renewed confidence, largely attributed to recent strategic moves in artificial intelligence. Over the past year, Intel’s share price has climbed 75%, a rise supported by government incentives, new partnerships, and a stronger stance in the AI chip sector.

Main Growth Factors

A pivotal driver behind Intel’s recent momentum is its expanded partnership with AI chip startup SambaNova. Announced alongside a $350 million funding round, this collaboration aims to position Intel as a formidable competitor to Nvidia in the AI hardware space. Having backed SambaNova since 2019, Intel will see its Xeon processors and graphics cards integrated into SambaNova’s AI infrastructure, creating a diverse ecosystem for data centers. This move is part of Intel’s broader effort to move beyond traditional CPUs and reestablish itself in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.

Central to the partnership is SambaNova’s new SN50 chip, which the company claims surpasses Nvidia’s B200 GPUs in both speed and cost-effectiveness. SambaNova asserts that the SN50 delivers inference performance five times faster and at a third of the cost compared to leading GPUs, with scalability up to 256 processors. SoftBank, a significant SambaNova client and OpenAI backer, intends to deploy the SN50 in its Japanese data centers, lending credibility to the chip’s commercial potential. This technological advantage could help Intel attract customers seeking alternatives to Nvidia’s expensive and power-hungry solutions.

This collaboration also marks Intel’s proactive approach to reversing a four-year revenue decline and mounting a challenge to Nvidia’s $4.5 trillion market valuation. By leveraging SambaNova’s unique architecture, Intel aims to provide businesses with a cost-efficient, multi-vendor computing solution, reducing dependence on single-supplier ecosystems. This strategy aligns with industry trends favoring diversified hardware stacks, as organizations look to overcome supply chain bottlenecks and enhance performance. Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, who also chairs SambaNova, has reiterated the company’s focus on developing its own AI GPUs while expanding strategic alliances to drive adoption.

Wider market trends continue to support Intel’s positive outlook. According to the Semiconductor Industry Association, global chip sales reached $791.7 billion in 2025, with forecasts predicting a 26% increase in 2026, fueled by AI and data center demand. Analysts at Wedbush expect Big Tech capital expenditures to rise to $550–$600 billion in 2026 from $380 billion in 2025, further boosting sector optimism. Intel’s alignment with these trends—through government funding, partnerships, and product innovation—has attracted cautious investor interest. However, some analysts, such as DA Davidson’s Gil Luria, maintain a “Neutral” stance with a $45 price target, emphasizing the importance of consistent execution.

Challenges and Outlook

Despite these positive developments, Intel faces several hurdles. SambaNova’s SN50 must demonstrate its capabilities against Nvidia’s Blackwell architecture in real-world scenarios, and Intel’s diverse AI product lineup—including Gaudi and Falcon Shores chips—may create confusion among customers. Additionally, the SN50’s incompatibility with Nvidia’s CUDA ecosystem could slow adoption among developers familiar with Nvidia’s tools. Nevertheless, the partnership underscores Intel’s determination to carve out a niche in the agentic AI market, where SambaNova’s RDU architecture is designed for massive, trillion-parameter models. By integrating SambaNova’s comprehensive AI cloud and specialized accelerators, Intel is positioned to offer enterprises a compelling alternative to GPU-centric solutions, potentially reclaiming valuable data center contracts.

In summary, Intel’s recent stock surge is the result of strategic alliances, technological advancements, and supportive market conditions. While the company must navigate intense competition and execution risks, its collaboration with SambaNova places it in a strong position to benefit from the ongoing AI expansion, meeting both current market needs and long-term growth opportunities.