I have seen the Intel (INTC) comeback thesis several times this year. The foundry ambitions. The blowout Q2 fiscal 2026 earnings. The $15 billion equity raise. CEO Lip-Bu Tan’s methodical restructuring. 

At its June 22 peak of $140.94, the stock had run 400% in a year and made believers out of even the most skeptical semiconductor analysts. Then came the hangover.

Yahoo Finance shows INTC at $95.80 as of this writing, down roughly 32% from that all-time high. Despite the drop, Intel is still up 159.62% year-to-date and 289.27% over the past year. Those numbers remain extraordinary, but the question now is whether the retracement has created a buying opportunity or a value trap.

Mizuho’s Vijay…