Intel Stock Pops After Snagging Micron's CFO

The shares of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) are up 1% at $55.76 this morning, following news that it's hired former Micron Technology (MU) Chief Financial Officer (CFO) David Zinsner as its new CFO, effective Monday, Jan. 17. While INTC is on the rise, Micron stock is down 0.8% in pre-market trading. The news hasn't convinced everyone to buy into Intel, though. Keybanc downgraded the stock to "sector weight" from "overweight" early this morning. 

It wasn't an easy year for Intel stock in 2021, the equity suffered several bear gaps and wound up bottoming out near the $48 level in late-October. Though the rally off this level has been choppy, with pressure forming near the $56 region, the security was able to topple a former ceiling at its 320-day moving average during yesterday's session. Year-over-year, INTC is up nearly 7%. 

Analysts remain hesitant, with 20 out of the 27 in coverage calling the equity a "hold" or worse, coming into today. Meanwhile, the 12-month consensus price target of $55.52 is a slim 1.2% premium to last night's close. 

Short-term options traders, on the other hand, have been more call-biased than usual. This is per the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.75, which stands higher than just 17% of readings from the past year.