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Turns Out It Was Time To Get Back Into Intel

Portfolio Armor's Photo
by Portfolio Armor
Thursday, Apr 23, 2026 - 22:10

An anime girl celebrating her successful Intel trade.

Another Successful Call

We seem to have a good track record with posts with the word “Time” in the title.

On February 18th, we published Time To Hedge Iran War Risk.

Ten days later, the Iran war started. Before the market opened yesterday, we published Time For CAR To Come Back Down To Earth after CAR had closed the prior day at $713.97 and before it opened that morning at $774.99.

By today’s close, CAR had fallen 67.97% from the April 21 close and 70.49% from the April 22 open. Those were two great calls. Time to add another one to the list: Time To Get Back Into Intel.

Why We Said “Back”

The reason we used the word “back” in that title was that we had just exited a previous successful trade in Intel in January:

  • 3-leg combo on Intel (INTC 15.45%↑). Entered at a net debit of $2.55 on 9/26/2025; exited the Oct ’25 36P–34P put spread at a net debit of $0.20 on 10/24/2025; sold the first half of the Mar ’26 42 calls at $8.00 on 1/13/2026; sold the second half of the Mar ’26 42 calls at $10.50 on 1/21/2026. Profit: 255% on premium outlay (140% on max risk).

So the February Intel post was not about discovering a new name. It was about going back to a stock we had already traded successfully once, after the market gave us another opening.

Today’s Earnings

Today’s Intel report makes that February call look well-timed. Intel reported first-quarter revenue of $13.6 billion versus expectations of about $12.3 billion to $12.4 billion, and adjusted earnings of $0.29 per share versus consensus estimates of $0.01 to $0.02. Its Data Center and AI segment came in at $5.1 billion, versus expectations of about $4.4 billion.

Just as important, Intel’s guidance also beat. The company forecast second-quarter revenue of $13.8 billion to $14.8 billion, above the $13.07 billion consensus, and adjusted EPS of $0.20, ahead of the $0.09 analysts were expecting. That’s why the stock jumped after hours: Intel didn’t just report a solid quarter; it beat expectations on revenue, earnings, its Data Center and AI segment, and forward guidance.

Beyond Intel

We’ve had success in other chip names too recently, including Navitas Semiconductor (NVTS 0.00%↑) , where we just had a profitable partial exit this week:

  • Calls on Navitas Semiconductor (NVTS 0.00%↑). Bought at $2.36 as part of a 3-leg combo on 12/8/2025; sold half at $7.50 on 4/22/2026. Profit: 218%. Signal: PA Top Names.

So this wasn’t just one good call on one stock. We have been finding opportunities across the chip space, and more broadly in the AI build-out and reindustrialization themes.

If you want a heads up when we place our next trade, you can sign up for our trading Substack/occasional email list below.

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