Intel Corp. INTC, -5.32% shares took a tumble on Thursday as Wall Street weighed in on the company’s commentary from its first analyst day in more than two years.
At least one analyst downgraded Intel shares after the Wednesday event. BMO Capital Markets’ Ambrish Srivastava lowered his rating to market perform from outperform, writing that his prior bullish stance on Intel was a “case of clearly overstaying our welcome.”
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Srivastava now doesn’t expect the company to see its gross margins bottom out before 2021, and he questions whether Intel has effectively contained threats from Advanced Micro Devices Inc. AMD, +0.44% which has been gaining market share.
“AMD is having an impact on the business, and it has barely begun shipping its server products, and will likely have a bigger impact than clearly we thought on Intel’s margin structure – and likely what Intel thought as well,” he wrote.
Srivastava cut his price target to $50 from $68 in conjunction with the downgrade.
Intel shares are off 4.7% in morning trading Thursday.
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Cowen & Co.’s Matthew Ramsay commented that Intel’s management provided “tough (but honest) answers to several tough questions” as the company deals with competitive pressures, a technological transition, and required investments. “Turning a battleship takes time,” wrote Ramsay, who rates the stock at market perform with a $50 target.
Bernstein’s Stacy Rasgon wrote that Intel appears to be “pushing out the bull case till 2023,” when the company could start to reap real benefits from its 7-nanometer technology.
“While we do not necessarily disagree with the path they are setting themselves on, it may prove to be a tough one for investors while they traverse it,” he wrote. Rasgon rates the shares at underperform with a $42 target.
Intel shares are flat on the year, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.54% has risen 10%.
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