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Investing.com - Shares of Intel rose in premarket trading on Thursday, pointing to an extension in gains notched in the prior session, as investors assessed a media report that the chipmaker had approached Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) about a potential investment.
Intel shares climbed by 6.4% to close at $31.22 on Wednesday following the report from Bloomberg News.
Citing people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity because the talks are private, Bloomberg reported that the companies have also discussed closer collaboration.
If completed, an investment by the iPhone maker would follow recent capital injections from other tech giants into Intel. Nvidia announced last week that it would invest $5 billion in Intel, with plans to collaborate on chips for personal computers and data centers.
Intel has reportedly contacted other companies about possible investments and partnerships as well.
A deal with Apple would provide further support for Intel’s turnaround efforts, which have even included the White House engineering an agreement for the U.S. government to take a 10% stake in the business.
However, reports suggested that Apple is unlikely to return to using Intel processors in its devices after switching to in-house chips over the past five years. Apple’s most advanced chips are currently manufactured by Intel rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
"Is [the Apple investment in Intel] plausible? Sure, why not," analysts at Bernstein said in a note on Thursday.
"At this point the company has secured close to $16 billion from prior (albeit dilutive) cash injections in recent weeks, and the idea that the company continues to seek further investors as a vote of confidence as well as the possibility that the [Trump] Administration is encouraging such has been widely speculated among investors."
(Louis Juricic contributed reporting.)