Partial sale Intel $INTC (+1,29 %)
As already mentioned, this was supposed to be a small profit-taking move. But that didn't work out. Nevertheless, I wanted to reduce the Intel position in my portfolio to a medium level. I no longer felt comfortable with the stock in the top 10 of my portfolio. New in the top 10: $VRTX (+0,36 %)
Reasons: I bought Intel many years ago when the company was still doing well. With the numbers at the time, it was simply a must buy, but unfortunately things have gone rapidly downhill since then, partly due to the chip ambitions of Apple $AAPL (+2,87 %) and Microsoft $MSFT (+1,09 %) and Microsoft, but also due to TSMC's lead in production. $TSM (+4,57 %) in production .
In my view, however, this did not justify a sale. I believe that CEO Pat Gelsinger was exactly the right man to make Intel fit for the future. The investment case was: Intel becomes a contract manufacturer and collects billions in subsidies from the taxpayer. That was a convincing move for me. Geopolitically, it is absolutely necessary for the western world to become independent of Asia when it comes to semiconductors. In this sense, it was clear that Congress would pull out all the stops to help Intel. Basically, this means two things: 1. Intel gets a virtual gift of equity if the factories are paid for by the countries themselves 2. Intel becomes a hedge against China risks.
So far so good. Unfortunately, the figures look less convincing at the moment. Intel sales have collapsed massively. While a lack of profits would hardly worry me, lower sales actually mean that Intel's products are really less and less in demand. Intel's equity is rising as expected, but debt is rising faster. In addition, Intel is no longer so undervalued at the moment, although analyst forecasts have not been revised upwards. Which to me means that the market has not gained that much confidence in Intel itself, but is simply playing the general semiconductor theme.
Right now, Intel is just in such a complicated position where there are about as many arguments for falling as there are for rising prices. It will be years before the foundry business can really prove itself. At the moment, Intel is a bit like a pharmaceutical company where you simply wait for years to see whether the new major project takes off and then either a new golden age begins or not. So I'm not primarily interested in the share price, but the investment case is simply shaky.
Nevertheless, I will remain invested with a moderate weighting and could imagine buying back the position if the share price were to fall by around 20% - or if the outlook were to brighten significantly.
