Why would Trump and Intel want to work together: Opening Bid top takeaway

Updated Fri, Aug 15, 2025, 9:45 AM 3 min read

Investors are in wait-and-see mode.

Fed watchers have had quite a week, getting a hot Producer Price Index, a tame Consumer Price Index, and solid retail sales data out today. As it stands, markets are still betting on that September rate cut from the Jerome Powell-led Federal Reserve.

There have been a few earnings stumbles in CoreWeave (CRWV), Applied Materials (AMAT), and Cava (CAVA), but a few bright spots from the likes of Cisco (CSCO). The Bullish (BLSH) IPO saw an enthusiastic response.

And now markets cast their gaze to the highly anticipated meeting today between President Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. The outcome of this meeting could have a host of surprises that bullish investors haven't even thought about!

The Trump administration is reportedly in talks to have the US government take a stake in Intel (INTC). An Intel spokesperson didn't comment directly on this to me, but offered this:

"Intel is deeply committed to supporting President Trump’s efforts to strengthen U.S. technology and manufacturing leadership. We look forward to continuing our work with the Trump Administration to advance these shared priorities, but we are not going to comment on rumors or speculation.”

The questions here are numerous.

Why would the administration even want a stake in an Intel that is far behind chief rivals Nvidia (NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)? I encourage Trump to compare Nvidia's earnings report on Aug. 27 to the last disaster from Intel a few weeks ago.

The president isn't known to hitch his ride to losers. Intel has been a loser and may stay that way in the chip game for some time.

Then again, why would Intel want to get in bed with the government when embattled CEO Lip-Bu Tan and the board must act quickly to reorganize the company? I find it hard to believe the government will be a quiet minority shareholder! Intel has billions in cash and doesn't need the money that comes with terms from any government deal.

There is a lot at stake here, as Intel should be a beacon of US chip-making, not the punching bag in tech circles. The company's financials have taken a major hit, with sales down for more than three straight years and earnings evaporating in the process.

"[A stake would] be a big step for Intel, but right now Intel is on a horse and buggy compared to the Godfather of AI Jensen [Huang] and Nvidia," Wedbush tech analyst Dan Ives told me.

When a Wall Street analyst who has been a bear on a stock for a while suddenly issues an upgrade, it always catches my attention. Today, we have that situation on Salesforce (CRM).