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Investing.com -- Intel stock fell Thursday after President Donald Trump called for the immediate resignation of the chip maker’s newly-appointed CEO, Lip-Bu Tan.
At 12:21 PM ET, Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) stock was down 2.6%, but is off session lows.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote: "The CEO of INTEL is highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately. There is no other solution to this problem. Thank you for your attention to this problem!"
The comments come amid growing scrutiny of Tan’s ties to China. Recently, Senator Tom Cotton, chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence, sent a letter to Intel’s board chairman Frank Yeary requesting information about Tan’s investments in Chinese semiconductor companies and entities with connections to China’s military.
Cotton specifically raised concerns about Tan’s previous leadership of Cadence Design (NASDAQ:CDNS) Systems Inc., which pleaded guilty in July to violating U.S. export controls by selling hardware and software to China’s National University of Defense Technology.
In his letter, Cotton stated that Tan’s associations "raise questions about Intel’s ability to fulfill these obligations" as "a responsible steward of American taxpayer dollars" and to comply with security regulations.
Tan took over as Intel’s CEO earlier this year as the chipmaker works to revitalize its business amid intense competition and manufacturing challenges.
Commenting on the news, Mizuho (NYSE:MFG) TMT Sector Specialist Jordan Klein said he thinks Trump’s comments about Tan are more bark than bite.
"Personally, I doubt there is anything real behind these claims," Klein said. "This is to sway public opinion against INTC CEO who didn’t create any of their current problems. Not going to find a new CEO who can do better vs LBT and quickly get INTC back on track. I bet Trump tried to push TSM to take a big equity stake in INTC or come in and fix production delays. TSM politely declined. Trump gets upset, realizes INTC is 4-5 years away from even attempting to get ahead of TSM, and his fix is to fire the CEO. Good luck."
Klien also notes that Trump is likely unhappy with the recent news that Tan is laying off 20% of the company.
"It is not a good look when your last and only domestic semi mfr for leading edge logic and foundry is pushing out investments and firing lots of hard working people," Klein comments. "Probably angers Trump and he reacts by going after CEO."
Frank DeMatteo contributed to this article