Oppenheimer analyst Rick Schafer said he believes Data Center Group strength likely led to Intel's pre-announcement of upside for its Q2 results, by which he is encouraged. While he raised his estimates and said he thinks the company's 2018 guidance appears conservative, he remains sidelined on the stock with a Perform rating due to Intel's "comparably limited" free cash flow leverage and growth.

Evercore ISI initiated coverage of Intel with an In Line rating and $40 price target. The firm views the risks for Intel as balanced. On the negative side, the center of gravity of computing is drifting away from Intel's x86 standard, the company is seeing competition not just from traditional processor companies, but also its own customers, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm noted, however, that on the positive side, Intel is one of only three companies in the world that can make leading edge transistors at scale, and the only one in the U.S. that can.