The company will spend $100 billion in Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio, and Oregon
Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC) was last seen up 1% at $42.45, following news it will receive $8.5 billion in government funding for high-end chip manufacturing, in addition to $11 billion in loans. The company plans to spend $100 billion in Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio, and Oregon to build and expand factories, and expects to get another $25 billion in tax breaks.
The shares have struggled with overhead pressure at the $47 region since a late-January pullback, though long-term support from the 140-day moving average kept losses in check. INTC is up 44.2% in the last 12 months, but shed 16.3% so far this year.
Analysts remain skeptical, with 27 of the 33 in coverage carrying a tepid "hold" or worse rating. Meanwhile, at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), the stock's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 3.52 sits higher than 94% of annual readings. This indicates calls have been more popular than usual.
Drilling down to today's options activity, 61,000 calls have crossed the tape -- double the intraday average volume -- compared to 17,000 puts. Most popular is the weekly 3/22 43-strike call, followed by the 42.50-strike call, with new positions currently being opened at the latter.