Jim Cramer named Intel his favorite stock on June 30, citing CEO Lip-Bu Tan’s turnaround of the chipmaker, which has delivered six consecutive quarters of revenue beats and sent shares up 523% over the past year.
On his “Mad Money” show, Cramer told viewers: “Intel is currently my favorite stock. CEO Lip-Bu Tan has turned this company around,” according to CNBC reporting. The timing underscores the scale of Intel’s reversal—the stock was trading in the low $20s less than a year ago and has more than tripled in 2026.
Tan took over as Intel’s CEO in March 2025, arriving at a company struggling with execution and market share losses. The first quarter of 2026 backed up investor confidence. Intel posted $13.6 billion in revenue, up 7% from the same quarter a year earlier, beating Wall Street’s estimate by more than $1 billion, according to the company’s SEC filing. Non-GAAP earnings per share came in at $0.29, far ahead of analyst expectations.
Cramer’s endorsement carries institutional weight. His Charitable Trust, which backs the CNBC Investing Club, initiated a position in Intel on June 3 and added to it twice since then, according to TheStreet. The trust also named Intel, along with Micron, Marvell, SanDisk, and AMD, as the quarter’s biggest winners among chip suppliers benefiting from AI infrastructure demand.
Why the turnaround stands out
Intel’s dual role as both chip designer and manufacturer has become a selling point in the AI era. While competitors like AMD rely almost entirely on Taiwan Semiconductor for production, Intel is building a more localized supply chain backed by federal subsidies and outside investment from Nvidia and SoftBank, according to TradingView. That structural advantage has drawn insider buying—Chief Financial Officer David Zinsner purchased 37,015 shares on June 1, 2026.
The six consecutive quarters of revenue beats mark a sharp departure from Intel’s recent history. When Tan arrived, the company faced skepticism about whether it could recover from years of missteps under previous leadership. The New York Times reported in June 2026 that Tan expects the full turnaround to take a minimum of five years, signaling that early wins are just the beginning of a longer transformation.
Wall Street’s view remains split. The average consensus among 39 analysts is $100.18, well below where Intel closed at $120.35 on July 2. Bank of America raised its target to $160 from $135 on June 23, while Citi set its target at $130. KeyBanc has warned of buyer exhaustion as the rally has outpaced fundamentals, and the stock’s valuation—trading at more than 150 times forward earnings—leaves little room for disappointment in upcoming quarters.
Sources
- TheStreet — Jim Cramer’s June 30 call naming Intel his favorite stock, Cramer’s Charitable Trust position initiation and additions, Q1 2026 earnings details, analyst price targets
- Dealroom — Six consecutive quarters of revenue beats, 523% stock gain over the past year
- Intel Newsroom — Lip-Bu Tan’s appointment as CEO in March 2025
- CNBC — Cramer’s quoted remarks on Mad Money, analyst price target details
- Fortune — Intel’s turnaround timeline and Tan’s leadership approach
- New York Times (via Business Journals) — Five-year turnaround expectation from CEO Tan
- TradingView — Intel’s supply chain strategy and outside investment details
