SAN JOSE: Intel Corp.’s shares rose on Friday after the Wall Street Journal reported that struggling US chipmaker Qualcomm Inc. had recently tabled a takeover bid for the company, German Press Agency (dpa) reported.
Intel shares rose more than 3% on the U.S. market, at one point exceeding 10%.
Intel declined to comment on the Wall Street Journal report, and rival Qualcomm did not initially respond.
Intel has been struggling with heavy losses and launched a cost-cutting program earlier this year.
Once an industry leader, Intel has little role to play in the smartphone business and is unable to compete with rival Nvidia on new chips for applications that use artificial intelligence. It is also under increasing pressure in the PC market.
The group said earlier this week that it was delaying by about two years construction of a semiconductor factory in the German city of Magdeburg, a project estimated to cost billions of dollars.
Patrick Moorhead, an industry analyst at Moor Insights, told CNBC that he could certainly see how the two companies’ businesses could complement each other well.
Intel and Qualcomm have little overlap in their businesses and technology platforms.
However, the deal is likely to trigger thorough scrutiny by competition regulators.
Intel’s market capitalization has fallen more than 50% since the end of 2023, while Qualcomm’s has nearly doubled as its stock price has risen about 20% this year. Qualcomm shares closed down nearly 3% after the Wall Street Journal report was published.
– Bernama, DPA