An artful deal, perhaps?
The dust is beginning to settle on yesterday’s Nvidia and Intel announcement, in which the two companies declared a collaboration to make new chips for both the data center and consumer markets. In a press conference yesterday evening, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang firmly stated that the Trump administration «had no involvement in this partnership at all», but there’s evidence to suggest this may not be entirely the case.
The announcement also broke the news of a $5 billion investment by Nvidia into Intel’s common stock, at a purchase price of $23.28 per share. According to sources speaking to The New York Times, the Trump administration approached Nvidia in January and asked it to invest in the chipmaker. The US government has since made an $8.9 billion investment in Intel itself, which is now estimated to be worth $13 billion as a result of Intel’s share price rising by near 23% off the back of yesterday’s news.
Writing on Substack, US semiconductor industry analyst Alex_Intel notes that Intel’s chief financial officer stated that the company wasn’t seeking any more stake sales at a recent Goldman Sachs conference. This could potentially be an indication that Intel paused its recent capital raising efforts before the announcement, instead waiting for its share price to rise so it could once again seek investment at a higher valuation.
Alex_Intel also notes that, in their view, Huang’s answer as to why the company has made a significant investment in Intel at this point seems suspicious.
