U.S. semiconductor stocks posted broad premarket gains on Thursday following a social-media announcement by President Trump that Apple has agreed to work with Intel to design and manufacture its chips in America. The comment coincided with strong moves in multiple chipmakers and exchange-traded funds linked to the sector.
By 06:01 ET (10:01 GMT) Intel shares had surged 8.9% in pre-open trading. Nvidia rose 1.2%, while AMD and Broadcom climbed roughly 3% each. ARM Holdings, Microchip Technology, Applied Materials and Micron saw increases in the mid-single-digit range - between 2.8% and 5%. Marvell Technology jumped 5.8% and Qualcomm added 2.9%.
Semiconductor-focused ETFs also advanced, with the iShares Semiconductor ETF up 3.9%, the VanEck Semiconductor ETF gaining 3.3% and the Roundhill Memory ETF jumping 6.2% in premarket trade.
Announcement details and context
The White House-related post from President Trump said, "Apple has agreed to work with Intel to design and build its Chips in America," but it did not provide further specifics. The president framed the development as part of a broader effort by his administration to reshore semiconductor manufacturing to the United States and referenced Intel’s existing partnerships with Nvidia and with TerraFab as components of that initiative.
Trump also stated that the federal government’s 10% stake in Intel, acquired earlier this year, had risen in value from $10 billion to $60 billion. The Wall Street Journal had reported in early May that Intel and Apple had reached a preliminary agreement to develop chips for Apple devices; the social-media post did not supply additional contractual or timing details.
Intel’s manufacturing update
The market reaction coincided with Intel saying that its newest version of the 18A manufacturing process, labeled 18A-P, had entered risk production. Intel described the move as driven by strong demand for its central processors.
Intel said 18A-P delivers 9% higher performance than 18A at the same power level, or alternatively 18% lower power consumption at the same processing speed, along with improved thermal performance and greater design flexibility. The company added that 18A-P is fully design-rule-compatible with 18A, which allows customers to reuse existing intellectual property and design flows.
Intel Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan has begun positioning 18A as a possible offering for external clients, marking a shift from an earlier stance that the process would generate returns only through Intel’s own products. Advancing 18A-P into initial production was presented as a step toward demonstrating progress on Intel’s manufacturing roadmap and making the technology more attractive to outside customers.
Market takeaways
The premarket session reflected investor sensitivity to developments that could alter the geography of chip design and fabrication and to technical progress at a major domestic manufacturer. Gains were broad-based across major manufacturers, equipment suppliers and ETFs tied to the industry.
However, the social-media announcement contained limited detail on the scope, timeline and commercial terms of the purported Apple-Intel collaboration. Intel’s 18A-P status was described as having entered risk production - an important milestone but not the same as full-volume manufacturing.