Intel (INTC 3.65%) stock is gaining ground in Monday’s trading. The semiconductor company’s share price was up 4% as of 2 p.m. ET. At the same point in time, the S&P 500 (^GSPC 0.73%) and Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC 1.13%) were up 0.7% and 1.1%, respectively.
Intel stock is climbing higher today following recent news that Lyft will be using Mobileye‘s (MBLY 14.65%) machine-vision and autonomous driving technologies for its upcoming robotaxi service. Intel is Mobileye’s majority shareholder, and it stands to benefit if the machine-vision specialist scores major contract wins.
Intel stock climbs on news of Mobileye and Lyft’s big partnership
TechCrunch published a report this morning stating that Lyft will be using Mobileye’s tech for a new robotaxi service that could launch as early as 2026. The new, self-driving vehicle offering is scheduled to launch in Dallas, and then expand into other major cities.
While Mobileye has otherwise been struggling lately, the new Lyft partnership looks to be a major win for the company. As of 2 p.m. ET, Mobileye’s share price was up 14.8%. As the tech specialist’s majority shareholder, that’s good news for Intel.
What’s next for Intel and Mobileye?
Intel purchased Mobileye for $15.3 billion in 2017, and then spun the company off as a publicly traded subsidiary in 2022. It still owns roughly 88% of the company. With today’s gains, Mobileye’s valuation has been pushed back up to $15.1 billion.
Notably, some reports have suggested that Intel was looking into selling some of its stake in the machine-vision technologies company in order to raise cash and facilitate its own restructuring initiative. If Mobileye’s share price continues to climb, Intel would be able to get a better deal if it divests some of its holdings. Either way, the Lyft partnership news looks like a clear bullish development for Mobileye and Intel.
If Mobileye is in the early stages of emerging from otherwise underwhelming business performance, Intel’s foundations for its own restructuring could be significantly improved. Mobileye was the second-largest acquisition in Intel’s history, coming in behind only Altera — which the chip company purchased for $16.7 billion in 2015.
But even if the stars are beginning to align for Mobileye, that still leaves some big questions about Intel’s core businesses. The chip specialist has been losing ground in the CPU markets for computers and servers, and its foundry business has been generating massive losses and missing performance benchmarks. 2025 is shaping up to be a pivotal year for Intel, and the company will likely be sharing some major news about its path forward in the near future.
Keith Noonan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Intel. The Motley Fool recommends Mobileye Global and recommends the following options: short February 2025 $27 calls on Intel. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
