Trump Announces Apple-Intel Chip Deal, Sending Intel Stock to All-Time High

Trump's Truth Social post ignites a semiconductor rally

Intel shares surged more than 10% on June 18 after President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that Apple had "agreed to work with Intel to design and build its Chips in America,"cnbc pushing the chipmaker to a fresh all-time high and swelling the U.S. government's 9.9% equity stake — acquired for roughly $8.9 billion last August — to a paper value exceeding $60 billion.techtimes Neither company confirmed the arrangement independently; Intel declined to comment on "a potential Apple-Intel agreement," and Apple did not respond to requests for comment.reuters According to Semafor, Intel's own executives learned of the announcement through Trump's post rather than internal channels.semafor

The deal's foundation predates that post. The Wall Street Journal reported in May 2026 that Apple and Intel had reached a preliminary manufacturing arrangement after more than a year of talks.wsj Two days earlier, Intel announced at the VLSI Symposium in Honolulu that it had entered risk production of 18A-P — an enhanced node offering 9% higher performance over base 18A — signaling foundry readiness for outside customers.cnbc

Apple's TSMC dependence meets its commercial limit

Apple broke from Intel processors in 2020, switching its Mac lineup to in-house M-series chips built by TSMC.reuters That relationship has driven strong device sales — but TSMC's capacity is now stretched thin by AI demand from Nvidia and AMD. CEO Tim Cook acknowledged during the company's most recent earnings call that iPhone 17 production had been "constrained" because TSMC could not supply enough A19 chips, and warned the Wall Street Journal that price increases were "unavoidable."cnn

Under the emerging deal, Intel will manufacture lower-end Apple processors — base M-series chips for entry-level MacBooks and A-series chips for older iPhones and iPads — on its 18A-P process, with first shipments targeted for 2027.techtimes +1 Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo estimates that even at full ramp, TSMC will still supply more than 90% of Apple's chip volume, making Intel a supply-chain hedge rather than a primary foundry.memeburn

Intel's foundry revival finds its most credible endorsement

For CEO Lip-Bu Tan, who took the helm in early 2025, landing Apple would be the strongest external validation of the company's manufacturing comeback.cnbc Nvidia has committed to building chips with Intel, and Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI chose it as foundry partner for a $25 billion manufacturing complex in Austin.techtimes Wall Street has repriced the turnaround sharply: Intel shares have climbed more than 460% over the trailing twelve months, pushing its market capitalization above $600 billion.cnbc

Analysts remain divided on whether that valuation holds. Bernstein's Stacy Rasgon warned the stock prices in a successful Apple ramp that has yet to be proved — Intel's initial yield targets for Apple chip runs stand at 50% to 60%.247wallst Chip analyst Ben Bajarin called Intel "a newly validated credible second source" while cautioning that meeting Apple's quality standards across multiple quarters of production is a different test from closing a preliminary deal.techtimes