Intel’s comeback story is even scarier than it seems

Bloomberg has a swimming deep this week in which Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan is trying to save one of Silicon Valley’s most famous, and stumbling, chipmakers. It’s worth a read, but it actually brings down the most jaw-dropping part of the story: Intel shares are up a staggering 490% in the past year, a Wall Street bet that may be paying off ahead of the company’s real turnaround.

Tan, who replaced him March last yearhe has spent most of his first year schmoozing instead of reforming – locking in intimate love and the US government (which is now Intel’s third largest shareholder), meeting with Elon Musk in public. factory contractand is said to be making initial deals with Apple and Tesla.

The basics are still confusing. Intel’s chip lags behind industry leader TSMC, and workers tell Bloomberg that Tan has been light inside, with some teams making up for missed days rather than recovering.

But investors are betting more on the big picture. Whether execution follows is a multi-billion dollar question.