Key insights
- Intel's 18A-P node entering risk production, offering performance and thermal improvements with design rule compatibility, is a significant step for its foundry business. This milestone could attract third-party chip designers, boosting Intel's recovery prospects. As a key supplier of EUV lithography machines, ASML's stock hitting a 52-week high reflects potential increased demand from advanced-node manufacturing ramps, including Intel's. This development signals positive momentum in the semiconductor industry, potentially benefiting related technology stocks.
The 18A-P node is an improvement on Intel’s flagship 18A process, offering either 9% higher performance at the same power level or 18% lower power consumption at equivalent performance, along with 20–40% better thermal resistance. Crucially, Intel says the new node is fully design-rule compatible with 18A, meaning existing chip designs can migrate to 18A-P without modification, a feature that could meaningfully lower the barrier for prospective foundry customers.
In an official statement at the symposium, Intel Foundry described the milestone plainly: "Intel 18A-P now in risk production with higher performance, enhanced thermal characteristics and design rule compatibility with Intel 18A." The announcement drew immediate commentary from industry analysts who have been closely watching Intel’s foundry rebuilding effort under CEO Lip-Bu Tan.
The commercial stakes are considerable. Intel’s foundry division posted a $2.4 billion operating loss in Q1 2026, and the investment thesis for the broader Intel recovery rests heavily on whether 18A and its successors can attract third-party chip designers at scale. Risk production is the phase in which a foundry demonstrates process stability to prospective clients, generating early wafers and proving yields before committing to volume orders. Intel has not publicly named any external customers lined up for 18A-P.
For ASML, the implications are structural. As the world’s sole supplier of extreme ultraviolet lithography machines required to produce leading-edge chips, ASML is a direct proxy for the pace of advanced-node manufacturing globally. Any acceleration in Intel’s foundry ramp translates, in theory, into incremental EUV tool demand.
The session’s gains extend a remarkable recovery for both names. Intel has climbed 456% over the past year from a 52-week low of $18.97, while ASML is up 151% from its own trough of $683.48. Intel’s Q1 2026 earnings, reported April 23, delivered an EPS of $0.29 against a consensus forecast of $0.02 and revenue of $13.58 billion versus the $12.41 billion expected, triggering a 26.46% single-session rally at the time.
Looking ahead, ASML reports Q2 2026 results on July 15, with consensus pointing to EPS of $8.06 on revenue of approximately $10.45 billion. Nine upward EPS revisions have been logged over the past 90 days with no downward revisions, reflecting the positive sentiment in the semiconductor equipment space. That earnings call will be closely watched for any management commentary on EUV demand tied to Intel’s ramp. Intel follows on July 23 with its own Q2 report, which analysts will use to assess whether the 18A-P production entry is beginning to translate into foundry pipeline revenue and, eventually, a path toward narrowing that division’s operating losses.