Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)’s next CEO has a big job ahead of him or her, according to analysts at Piper Jaffray. The company has yet to name who its next CEO will be, even though it has known for months that current CEO Paul Otellini will retire in May.
Analysts at Piper Jaffray issued a report to investors this morning outlining what they believe must be done by the company’s next CEO.
“We believe Intel’s new CEO could reposition the company for a turnaround,” analysts Auguste Gus Richard and Jennifer L. Baxter wrote.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)’s stock rose 1.5 percent in Tuesday morning trading activity, and while it hasn’t declined in a big way over the past six months, it has fallen steadily over the past year.
Last May the stock was worth almost $30 per share, and today it’s worth a little more than $20 per share.
The Piper Jaffray analysts point out that we are in a “post-PC era,” which of course is a problem for Intel. The world is pushing into mobile computing in a big way, and they believe that the next CEO must reposition the company with this in mind.
The analysts said that they “hope” Intel will do the following under new leadership: “license ARM, develop an efficient SoC assembly process and develop a direct-to-OEM foundry business. If the company does those three things, they believe the company will be able to “counter Samsung’s momentum.”
The analysts noted that right now there are three major logic suppliers: Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) and Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Co. Ltd. (NYSE:TSM) (TPE:2330). They admit that Intel is ahead of the other two, and they said the key to the company’s success is staying ahead of the others.
They predict that Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) will catch up with Intel next year, but they also say that the company’s “aggressive strategy” makes it possible for Intel to pull ahead again, particularly by becoming a direct-to-OEM foundry.
The analysts say that currently Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) is pushing its x86 technology “into mobile where it is not needed or wanted.” They believe Intel should license ARM Holdings plc (NASDAQ:ARMH) (LON:ARM)’s chips instead.
“The mobile world is built on ARM Holdings plc (NASDAQ:ARMH) (LON:ARM) and it is too late to try to change the ecosystem,” they wrote. “Intel not acknowledging this is in large part why we have been Neutral on INTC for the last 2 and a half years.”
