Is Intel Stock Still a Buy After Its Historic Crash? CEO Bets $9.7 Million as Shares Sit Far Below Record High

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Intel shares ended a volatile week below $60. Investors are again asking whether the chipmaker's steep fall is a buying opportunity or a warning sign.

The stock closed Friday at $59.66, down 2.52%. It was its second straight daily decline, as turmoil at Nvidia following Jensen Huang's resignation weighed on chip stocks.

At that price, Intel is less than half its June 22 closing high of $140.94. Its 52-week range runs from $32.89 to $142.35.

A Record Collapse

The selloff began with Intel's third-quarter report. The quarter itself beat expectations: revenue rose 21% from a year earlier to $16.5 billion, and adjusted earnings came in at 52 cents per share.

The outlook disappointed. Intel forecast fourth-quarter revenue of $15 billion to $16 billion, below the consensus estimate of about $17.05 billion. It also guided to adjusted earnings of 25 cents per share, well short of the roughly 43 cents analysts had expected.

Management also said it expects weakness in the personal computer market to last at least through the first half of 2027.

On Oct. 30 the stock fell about 29%, its steepest one-day drop since 1974. More losses followed during a broad AI-stock selloff. Intel fell 10.3% on Nov. 5 alone, as the Nasdaq dropped 5.5%.

It then bounced back with the rest of the sector. Intel rose 5.5% on Nov. 9 and jumped 7.5% on Nov. 11, after strong results from AI cloud provider CoreWeave eased worries about AI demand.

Even after the crash, Intel is still up roughly 60% for the year.

The CEO Is Buying

Some investors see a vote of confidence in a recent filing. Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan bought 150,000 shares on Nov. 2 through a family trust, one trading day after the plunge. He paid a weighted average of about $64.73 a share, or about $9.7 million in total.

It was his second large purchase in less than three months. In August, Tan bought about $10 million of stock at $95 a share. That holding is now well underwater.

History suggests insider buying is no guarantee. A Motley Fool review found that over the past decade, Intel shares were higher a year later after only about half of the days on which its CEOs bought stock.

Other Big Investors Weigh In

Soros Fund Management recently increased its Intel stake to about $340 million, according to Investing.com.

Nvidia, which holds Intel stock worth about $13 billion, is also part of the story. Uncertainty over Nvidia's leadership after Huang's departure contributed to Intel's losses late in the week.

The Case for Caution

Even after the drop, Intel is not cheap by some measures. Based on analysts' expectations for 2027, it trades at roughly 35 times earnings.

Several other signals are cautious:

Analyst consensus is "Hold." Goldman Sachs remains at "Neutral." Some technical analysis services have flagged the stock as a "sell" candidate because of its downtrend. The stock is highly volatile. In 2026 it has typically moved about two and a half to three times as much as the S&P 500 on any given day.

What to Watch

Intel's long-term story depends on its turnaround plan under Tan:

making its contract manufacturing, or foundry, business profitable regaining ground in AI data center chips coping with weak PC demand

The fourth-quarter results will show whether the company can meet its lowered targets.

For investors, the question is whether the October crash wiped out excess optimism or signaled deeper trouble. With the CEO buying, analysts mostly neutral and the stock swinging sharply, the answer may depend on how much risk an investor can stomach and how long they plan to hold.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Investors should do their own research or consult a licensed financial adviser before making investment decisions.