Intel stock drops as foundry capacity buildout plans have one analyst predicting a company split

Intel Corp.
INTC,
-3.89%
shares underperformed peers Tuesday following announced plans of a capacity buildout ahead of a presentation to investors Wednesday. Intel shares dropped 4% in recent activity compared with a 1% decline of the PHLX Semiconductor Index
SOX,
-0.89%
and a 0.6% decline on the S&P 500 index
SPX,
-0.36%.
In a note Tuesday, UBS analyst Timothy Arcuri said he expects Intel to provide an update on its product roadmap, and customer adoption of its foundry services business, or IFS. Intel confirmed reports from over the weekend that it was building new foundry capacity in Germany and Poland. “We have long argued that if Intel is truly going to pursue an external foundry model — which at this point would be hard to backpedal from given its pending acceptance of significant amounts of CHIPS Act money — it needs to cleave the manufacturing assets from the product businesses,” Arcuri said. “Essentially, we argue Intel likely splits into a foundry business and a fabless product business and the segment P&L is a big first step.” Arcuri said “such a separation is necessary because there is not a single potentially significant customer that tells us they would make a big commitment to Intel foundry as long as it would be competing with Intel for the best wafers, highest yielding lots, etc.”