Intel stock rises 4.84% as the company pushes major layoffs and restructuring in 2025; Citigroup raises price target to $24. Investors eye Q2 earnings for insights on whether Intel’s leaner approach will help the chipmaker regain market strength.
Intel has announced that it would spend $14.2 billion to buy back the 49% stake it had sold to Apollo Global Management in its Ireland manufacturing facility, taking full ownership of the plant as its finances improve and AI drives demand for its processors.
The Santa Clara, California-based company will buy back its stake in Fab 34 facility in Leixlip, Ireland, from Apollo Global Management. The move effectively ends a joint venture formed in 2024 when Intel was scrambling to raise capital. By regaining 100% control of the Irish facility, Intel secures the long-term profits of its main European production engine as it prepares for a projected ramp-up in demand for high-end server and PC processors.“Intel is moving from a defensive crouch back to an offensive sprint,” Bloomberg reported, noting that the transaction will be funded through a mix of cash on hand and the issuance of approximately $6.5 billion in new debt. Chief Financial Officer Dave Zinsner characterized the initial sale as a necessary maneuver during a period when Intel’s independence was being openly questioned by analysts. “Our 2024 agreement was the right structure at the right time and provided Intel with meaningful flexibility,” Zinsner said.
“Today, we have a strong balance sheet, improved financial discipline and an evolved business strategy.”The latest move marks a shift for Intel, which spent much of 2025 in cost-cutting mode. Chief Executive Officer Lip-Bu Tan, who took the helm in March of that year has cut jobs, slowed expansion projects and sought to offload businesses. Last August, Intel has also received billions of dollars in investments from Nvidia and the US government, which is now its biggest shareholder.
Intel said that the stake buyback would be funded with cash on hand and about $6.5 billion of new debt.
It expects the deal to boost profit and strengthen its credit profile from 2027.
Intel CFO Dave Zinsner shares buyback on LinkedIn
Dave Zinsner also shared a post on the buyback on LinkedIn, he wrote, “Today we announced that Intel is repurchasing the 49% equity interest in our Fab 34 joint venture from Apollo for $14.2 billion — unwinding a structure that served us exactly as intended when we put it in place in 2024.
The original SCIP arrangement gave us critical financial flexibility at a pivotal moment in our manufacturing buildout. Two years later, we have a stronger balance sheet, sharper financial discipline, and a business strategy that’s evolving with confidence.
Buying back the stake is the right next step. None of this happens without great partners on the other side of the table. Thank you to Jamshid Ehsani, Reed Rayman, and the entire Apollo Global Management, Inc.
team for your continued partnership — and for approaching this relationship with the flexibility and long-term orientation that made it work from day one.
Intel betting on AI and Manufacturing
The repurchase reflects a growing conviction that Intel can capitalize on the global surge in AI infrastructure spending. Fab 34, located on the outskirts of Dublin, Ireland, is central to this ambition. The Ireland plant was Intel’s first high-volume manufacturing site for the Intel 4 manufacturing process that uses extreme ultraviolet lithography machines. While the plant currently utilizes “Intel 4” and “Intel 3” manufacturing processes, Intel is in the midst of a broader transition to its highly anticipated 18A technology.
This advanced node is already being rolled out in U.S. factories and is seen as the linchpin for Intel’s goal to regain the crown of world-class manufacturing from competitors like TSMC.
