Intel’s shares advanced 3.6% in pre-market trading after the company disclosed that former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi purchased 10,000 shares and 50 call options tied to the stock.
Pelosi’s transactions, reported on July 24, included a $500,000 to $1 million stake in Intel common stock and 50 call options with a $50 strike price expiring June 17, 2027, valued between $250,000 and $500,000. The purchases followed a $23 billion secondary equity offering priced at $95 per share, which exceeded the initial $15 billion target and resulted in the sale of approximately 242 million shares.
The stock’s move also coincided with a Raymond James upgrade of rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) to Strong Buy, contributing to a 2.18% decline in AMD’s shares. Analysts cited growing demand for central processing units driven by agentic AI and inference workloads as a key factor behind the upgrade.
Intel’s shares remain well below their 52-week high of $142.35, but the pre-market rally reflects a shift in sentiment amid high-profile buying activity and positive analyst commentary. The broader market advanced modestly, with the S&P 500 up 0.5%, the Dow Jones gaining 0.6%, and the Nasdaq rising 0.9%.
