Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger Forced Out By Board, Analysts Cheer Potential Strategy Shift: 'This Move Opens The Door'

Intel Corp INTC CEO Pat Gelsinger announced his retirement on Monday. Reports indicate the Intel chief was forced out by Intel’s board, which had grown frustrated with Gelsinger’s turnaround progress.

What Happened: According to a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the matter, Gelsinger was given the option to retire or be removed from Intel after the company’s board expressed its dissatisfaction with the company’s progress on winning back market share from Nvidia Corp NVDA.

Intel has named David Zinsner and Michelle Johnston Holthaus as interim co-CEOs while the board conducts a search for a new chief executive, the company said in a statement. Frank Yeary, independent chair of Intel's board, will become interim executive chair during the transition period.

Gelsinger began working for Intel when he was a teenager before leaving in 2009 to become CEO of VMWare. He returned to Intel in 2021 and laid out plans to revive the chipmaker’s manufacturing lead against rivals, but the turnaround efforts have failed to materialize.

Intel shares jumped more than 4% Monday morning on news of Gelsinger’s departure before pulling back. The stock is still down more than 51% year-to-date, according to Benzinga Pro.

“The stock lost more than 60% under his tenure, so this shouldn't have come as a very big surprise,” said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist for Carson Group, according to Reuters.

Detrick noted that all of Gelsinger’s major strategic decisions could now head to the chopping block, including his decision to focus on contract manufacturing.

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Investors appear to be cheering Gelsinger’s departure on hopes the company could lean into more aggressive strategy changes under new leadership.

“This move opens the door for a new strategy, which we've been advocating for some time,” said Wolfe Research’s Chris Caso.

“While Gelsinger was generally successful in advancing Intel's process road map, we don't believe that Intel has the scale to pursue leading edge manufacturing on its own given Intel's absence from AI.”

While Intel has lagged the broader market, other chipmakers like Nvidia have seen their stocks soar since the start of the year on roaring demand for AI chips.

“At the end of the day, you need leading-edge products, innovation, and execution, none of which we saw during Pat Gelsinger’s reign,” Rosenblatt’s Hans Mosesmann reportedly said.

INTC Price Action: Intel shares initially traded up to around the $25.40 level before pulling back and turning negative for the session. The stock was down 0.71% at $23.88 at the time of publication, according to Benzinga Pro.

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