Top Wall Street analyst gives buy rating for Intel in anticipation of the earnings season

Intel just revealed a management shakeup that will see former Intel CTO and VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger succeed Bob Swan as CEO, effective February 15. In response to this development, J.P. Morgan analyst Harlan Sur reiterated a Buy rating and $70 price target on January 13.

“We view the management change positively given Mr. Gelsinger’s track record at VMware, EMC and also considering his instrumental roles as Intel’s first CTO and head of Intel’s desktop and server CPU businesses (key contributor to the flagship Core and Xeon platforms)… We believe he is well-respected by the investment community and has the right background to navigate the company through what is arguably one of the most challenging periods of the company’s existence,” Sur explained.

Additionally, INTC stated that Q4 2020 revenue and EPS will surpass its previous guidance on the back of “strong progress” on its 7nm process technology, with Sur expecting the company to utilize a hybrid insourced/outsourced manufacturing strategy.

According to Sur, the company likely saw upside in the client compute segment, with the data center business also potentially posting a gain.