Intel $INTC ( ▼ 0.15% ) shares jumped after news that the Trump administration is weighing a federal equity stake in the company to support its foundry turnaround and after SoftBank agreed to buy 2 billion dollars of Intel stock at 23 dollars per share. Reports indicate the government is considering converting a portion of CHIPS Act support into equity that could be as much as 10 percent, which investors read as a potential lifeline for Intel’s capital needs and its U.S. manufacturing buildout.

SoftBank’s purchase would be roughly a 2 percent stake and adds a strategic angle since SoftBank controls Arm, a potential foundry customer for Intel’s 18A and future nodes. Intel shares rose between 6 percent and 10 percent on the headlines. Context matters here because Intel previously secured up to 7.86 billion dollars in CHIPS grants to expand domestic fabrication, yet still needs external customers and fresh capital to scale its foundry services against TSMC and Samsung.

If a U.S. stake and the SoftBank tie-in lead to credible third-party wafer orders, the market will likely reward the stock with a higher confidence premium. If talks stall or customers do not materialize, investors could fade the bounce.

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