A chip rising from a circuit board.
Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) stock is making big gains in Tuesday’s trading. The semiconductor giant’s share price was up 4.7% as of 1:45 p.m. ET, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Intel stock is climbing following news that the company will be building a $25 billion new manufacturing facility in Israel. The country’s government will be providing $3.2 billion to help fund the production of the facility.
Intel makes another big bet on chip production
Intel’s new production plant will be built as an expansion of its current facility in Kiryat Gat, Israel. According to a statement released by Israel’s government and the chip giant, the $25 billion that will be spent to build the new semiconductor fabrication plant represents the largest ever outside investment in the country. Intel already has roughly 12,000 workers in Israel, but the planned facility represents a major expansion initiative and should significantly bolster its production capabilities.
Why is Intel’s fabrication push so important?
The majority of contract chip manufacturing operations are currently handled by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE: TSM), with the company currently controlling roughly 60% of the market. When it comes to the types of advanced chips that are used for high-end artificial intelligence (AI) applications, TSMC’s dominance is even more pronounced. The Taiwan-based fabrication leader commands roughly 90% of the contract fabrication market for high-performance chips.
But having the production of the world’s chip supply so heavily concentrated in Taiwan presents potentially disastrous bottlenecks — particularly as China has indicated that it plans to bring the country back under its territorial control. Nations including the U.S. and Israel have been introducing funding initiatives to bolster domestic chip production capabilities, and Intel is receiving funding from both countries to push ahead with new design and fabrication facilities.
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With an influx of government support, Intel may be able to accelerate key…
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