Intel shares witnessed a sharp decline in short interest for the month of March. Short interest as of March 31 totaled about 128.5 million shares, which was a decrease of 11.1% from the March 13 total of about 144.5 million shares. Around 2.7% of the company’s shares are sold short.
Intel prepares for Windows 10 launch
Separately in a report on April 15, Wedbush analyst Betsy Van Hees upgraded Intel from Neutral to Outperform and also raised her price target from $34 to $37 per share. For the last quarter, the chip maker posted earnings of 41 cents per share, which was in line with the consensus estimate. For the same quarter last year, the chip maker posted 38 cents in earnings per share. Revenue for the quarter came in at $12.8 billion compared to the consensus estimate of $12.9 billion.
Intel expects a mid-single-digit year over year drop in PC shipments but asserted that it is reducing its supply chain inventory significantly ahead of the Windows 10 launch. Van Hees believes the PC market has hit bottom and expects the third quarter to bring strong sequential growth ahead of the Windows 10 launch.
Analysts’ take on Intel
Many other research firms have also released their ratings on Intel in recent weeks. In a research note on Wednesday, Barclays analysts reiterated their Equal Weight rating on the stock with a price target of $32. FBR & Co., in a research note on Wednesday, assigned a Buy rating to the chip maker with a price target of $40. Analysts at Oppenheimer reiterated their Market Perform rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Also KeyBanc analysts raised their price target on the chip maker from $35 to $37 in a research note on Wednesday. Presently, Intel has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $36.53.
Intel has a 52-week low of $25.74 and a 52-week high of $37.90. The chip maker has a 50-day moving average of $31 and a 200-day moving average of $34. On Thursday, Intel shares closed up 0.12% at $32.87, while year-to-date, the stock is down by almost 11%.
