Watch these Intel price levels as stock surges after chipmaker names new CEO

Intel (INTC) shares rose in extended trading Wednesday after the firm selected Lip-Bu Tan, a former board member and semiconductor industry veteran, as its next CEO. Tan, a former CEO of semiconductor software business Cadence Design Systems (CDNS), will follow temporary Co-CEOs David Zinsner and Michelle Johnston Holthaus, who have held the job since Pat Gelsinger departed last December. Tan will take over the position next Tuesday. 

The news comes after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM) approached Nvidia (NVDA), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), and Broadcom (AVGO) about forming a joint venture to own and operate Intel’s foundry division, which manufactures chips for third-party customers.

Intel shares have lost more than half of their value in the last year, driven down by the company’s failure to win a larger piece of the lucrative AI chip market and months of reorganization and acquisition speculations. Following the announcement of the CEO hiring, the stock rose 10% to $22.84 in the after-hours session on Wednesday. We’ve broken into the technicals on Intel’s chart and identified key price levels for investors to watch.

Possible Rangebound Bottom:

Since gapping dramatically downward in early August last year, Intel shares have stayed mainly rangebound, possibly indicating a market bottom. More recently, the stock posted a brief rebound to the well-watched 200-day moving average (MA) before reverting to its previous trading floor of seven months.

Crucial Overhead Areas to Monitor:

The first overhead area to observe costs roughly $22. While the stock is expected to begin above this price on Thursday, it’s worth seeing if bulls can maintain this level until tomorrow’s close, given its proximity to a horizontal line that connects a range of analogous trading action on the chart from August last year to March this year. A good closure above this level might cause the shares to rise to about $26. Investors who bought at recent lows may choose to lock in profits at the significant November and March highs.

Key Supportive Rates Worthy Tracking:

Further selling in Intel shares might return the stock to multi-month lows near $19. Bargain hunters may buy shares along a trendline that connects successive stock bottoms from August to February.