By Adam Clark

Intel and Micron Technology were gaining early Monday. Shortages of central-processing units and memory chips are set to keep boosting the two semiconductor companies, according to analysts at KeyBanc.

Intel rose 1.7% at $51.25 in premarket trading, while Micron was gaining 3.3% to $378.30.

It has been a volatile period for chip stocks amid the fighting in Iran, which has led investors to rotate away from technology companies riding the artificial-intelligence boom and toward value plays. But KeyBanc analyst John Vinh sees no let-up in the need for hardware.

"Total demand for server[s] has gotten incrementally stronger with the rise of AI-agent-driven workloads. However, supply remains heavily constrained by limited server CPU," Vinh wrote.

Vinh raised his target price on Intel to $70 from $65, while keeping an Overweight rating on the stock. He expects Intel to be able to raise prices for server CPUs by between 10% and 15% in the second quarter of the year, having already implemented increases of a similar size in the first quarter.

Intel appears to have slightly more room for price increases than its server CPU rival Advanced Micro Devices, which only is implementing one round of hikes, according to Vinh.

It's a similar story for Micron, riding a surge of demand for memory chips for incorporation in artificial-intelligence servers. Vinh reiterated an Overweight rating and $600 price target on Micron stock.

Vinh expects prices for DRAM and NAND memory to increase by between 30% and 50% in the second quarter. Although the memory-chip business is notoriously cyclical and price increases are slowing, the KeyBanc analyst expects valuations to be supported by the implementation of long-term supply agreements.

"We see the structure of these LTAs [long-term agreements] as extremely favorable for memory producers as it addresses the shortcomings of past LTAs, which were easily broken, and likely mitigates downcycle risk," Vinh wrote.

Write to Adam Clark at adam.clark@barrons.com

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April 06, 2026 06:26 ET (10:26 GMT)

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