{"id":6667,"date":"2025-07-18T14:12:44","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T14:12:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/otetmarkets.com\/blog\/?p=6667"},"modified":"2025-07-18T14:12:45","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T14:12:45","slug":"intel-stock-rally-july-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/otetmarkets.com\/blog\/news\/intel-stock-rally-july-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Intel Stock Rally in July 2025? Citi Sees Potential Short Squeeze Ahead of Earnings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) stock could stage a short-term rally in July 2025<\/strong>, according to a bullish note from <strong>Citi<\/strong>, which sees a potential <strong>short squeeze<\/strong> as earnings season approaches. Despite Intel remaining one of the most shorted stocks on Wall Street, the bank flagged improving fundamentals and an upside surprise to Q2 earnings per share (EPS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>\u201cIntel remains the most popular short, but we believe the stock could squeeze higher during earnings given potential upside to EPS,\u201d<\/em> said <strong>Citi analyst Christopher Danely<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\">\n  <a href=\"https:\/\/otetmarkets.com\/prblog\" target=\"_blank\">\n    <video height=\"500\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1312 \/ 500;\" width=\"1312\" autoplay loop muted playsinline>\n      <source src=\"https:\/\/otetmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Otet-Banner-en-2.mp4\" type=\"video\/mp4\">\n      Your browser does not support the video tag.\n    <\/video>\n  <\/a>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-key-takeaways-intel-stock-rally-july-2025\"><br><strong>Key Takeaways: Intel Stock Rally July 2025 \u2705<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Citi expects EPS upside<\/strong> driven by <strong>lower capex, reduced opex<\/strong>, and <strong>stronger PC sales<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Intel remains heavily shorted<\/strong>, raising the chances of a <strong>short squeeze<\/strong> if results beat estimates.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>PC market (60% of Intel\u2019s sales)<\/strong> is showing signs of stabilization.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Citi\u2019s Q2 EPS forecast<\/strong> for Intel is <strong>above Wall Street consensus<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-chip-sector-outlook-q2-2025-earnings-preview\"><br><strong>Chip Sector Outlook \u2013 Q2 2025 Earnings Preview \ud83d\udcca<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th><strong>Company<\/strong><\/th><th><strong>Citi\u2019s Outlook<\/strong><\/th><th><strong>Price Target\/Estimate<\/strong><\/th><th><strong>Key Risks or Drivers<\/strong><\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Intel (INTC)<\/strong><\/td><td>Potential <strong>short squeeze<\/strong> on EPS beat; improving fundamentals<\/td><td>No PT revision yet; upside to Q2 EPS<\/td><td>PC market recovery; heavy short interest<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>AMD (AMD)<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Bullish sentiment<\/strong> from AI growth, but buyside expectations high<\/td><td>Price target raised from <strong>$145 \u2192 $165<\/strong><\/td><td>Investor enthusiasm vs. risk of overvaluation<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Micron (MU)<\/strong><\/td><td>Weak near-term performance expected<\/td><td>No major change<\/td><td><strong>DRAM price flattening, HBM oversupply fears<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Microchip Tech (MCHP)<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Top pick<\/strong>; under-owned with strong EPS upside potential<\/td><td>2026 EPS forecast <strong>38% above consensus<\/strong><\/td><td>Broader semiconductor demand recovery<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>ON Semiconductor (ON)<\/strong><\/td><td>Risk of <strong>flat gross margins<\/strong>; potential post-earnings weakness<\/td><td>No major PT change<\/td><td><strong>SiC &amp; China low-end business risks<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Qualcomm (QCOM)<\/strong><\/td><td>Cautious; secular headwinds, loss of Apple as a customer<\/td><td>Widely owned; sentiment surprisingly resilient<\/td><td>Smartphone market slowdown, customer loss<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Texas Instruments (TXN)<\/strong><\/td><td>Solid upside potential; strong gross margin performance<\/td><td>Q3 EPS ~<strong>10% above consensus<\/strong><\/td><td>Broad industrial demand and pricing stability<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-why-intel-could-rally-before-earnings\"><br><strong>Why Intel Could Rally Before Earnings<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Citi highlighted several reasons why <strong>Intel stock may climb in the short term<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2705 <strong>Lower capex &amp; opex<\/strong> \u2013 Improved cost control is boosting margins.<br>\u2705 <strong>PC market recovery<\/strong> \u2013 Responsible for <strong>60% of Intel\u2019s revenue<\/strong>, the sector is stabilizing faster than expected.<br>\u2705 <strong>Short squeeze risk<\/strong> \u2013 With Intel being <strong>\u201cthe most popular short\u201d<\/strong>, a positive earnings surprise could force traders to cover positions, pushing prices higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If Intel does deliver an EPS beat, <strong>retail and institutional investors could quickly flip bullish<\/strong>, especially with AI-related optimism still surrounding the semiconductor sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><strong>Read More: <a href=\"https:\/\/otetmarkets.com\/blog\/financial-markets-education\/financial-revolution-defi-ai\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Financial Revolution: From DeFi to Artificial Intelligence<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-broader-semiconductor-sentiment\"><br><strong>Broader Semiconductor Sentiment<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong>chip sector<\/strong> remains mixed heading into earnings season. <strong>AMD<\/strong> continues to benefit from AI enthusiasm, while <strong>Micron<\/strong> struggles with DRAM pricing concerns. <strong>Microchip Technology (MCHP)<\/strong> stands out as Citi\u2019s <strong>\u201cmost under-owned\u201d pick<\/strong>, while <strong>ON Semiconductor<\/strong> may disappoint investors with flat margins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, <strong>Texas Instruments (TXN)<\/strong> appears well-positioned to maintain momentum, benefiting from stable industrial demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>\ud83d\udcac Will Intel\u2019s Q2 results surprise the market and trigger a short squeeze? Or is the bearish sentiment justified? Share your thoughts in the comments! \ud83d\udcc9\ud83d\udcc8<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.investing.com\/news\/stock-market-news\/intel-shares-could-squeeze-higher-during-earnings-analyst-says-4141739\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) stock could stage a short-term rally in July 2025, according to a bullish note from Citi, which sees a potential short squeeze as earnings season approaches. Despite Intel remaining one of the most shorted stocks on Wall Street, the bank flagged improving fundamentals and an upside surprise to Q2 earnings per share (EPS). [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,12,2],"tags":[37,34],"class_list":["post-6667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-global-economy-news","category-general-economic-news","category-news","tag-financialnews","tag-stock-market"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/otetmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/otetmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/otetmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otetmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otetmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6667"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/otetmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6667\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6671,"href":"https:\/\/otetmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6667\/revisions\/6671"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otetmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/otetmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otetmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otetmarkets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}