By Katherine Hamilton

Intel shares climbed on reports it is considering splitting itself as rivals Broadcom and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. are looking into potential deals to buy it.

The stock rose 9% to $25.99 on Tuesday as markets opened for the first time since the Wall Street Journal reported the news. The gains brought Intel's stock to its highest point since November, and it was the most active stock in the S&P 500 Tuesday morning.

Broadcom and TSMC are in early stages of considering deals, and could still decide not to seek an acquisition, people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal on Saturday. Broadcom has held informal discussions about making a bid, while TSMC has separately studied controlling some of Intel's chip plants. The companies aren't working together.

Intel, which made a name for itself by producing central processors for computers, has struggled over the past several years to hang onto market share. It fell behind TSMC in making the fastest chips with the smallest transistors, and Nvidia overtook it as the most valuable U.S. semiconductor company.

Intel has also struggled to find customers for its contract chip-making business, a major investment area for former Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger, who was ousted in December. The company's stock has lost nearly half its value over the past year.

If either of the deals go through, they would likely meet several complications, including a long approval process, Bank of America analysts said. Anti-trust concerns and geopolitical tensions between China and the U.S. could disrupt a deal, the analysts said.

A White House official told the Wall Street Journal that the president would be unlikely to support a deal that involves a foreign entity operating Intel's factories. Intel was the largest recipient of funding under the Chips Act of 2022, and the company is required as part of that deal to maintain a majority share of its factories if they are spun off into a new entity.

Write to Katherine Hamilton at katherine.hamilton@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 18, 2025 11:02 ET (16:02 GMT)

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