A Pause In Intel's Big Rally

Intel Corporation INTC took a breather from its huge post-earnings rally on Friday, finishing the day down 1.6 percent. Still, Intel is revisiting territory it hasn't breached since its dot-com bubble highs.

Now that the initial earnings enthusiasm has subsided, traders need to figure out whether Intel is heading above $50 for the first time in 17 years or headed back down to the $41.50 level to fill its earnings gap.

Full Circle

It’s been a long full-circle journey for Intel since the bursting of the dot-com bubble. The deflating of the Intel bubble climaxed back in September 2000 when the company issued weak revenue guidance and triggered a long list of downgrades from Wall Street. When Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Salomon Smith Barney, Chase Hambrecht & Quist, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, ABN Amro, Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, Prudential Securities and CIBC World Markets all downgraded Intel, the stock plummeted from $61.48 to $47.97 in one day, creating a huge gap from $49.50 to $60.38 that was never filled.

After bottoming at $12.09 during the financial crisis of 2009, Intel has been steadily marching higher and is now on the brink of filling that huge downgrade gap 17 years after it formed.

Levels To Watch

If Intel bounces back on Monday, traders will be watching the $49.50 level closely in coming weeks. However, if it continues trading lower, the stock may not find technical support until it hits it pre-earnings closing price of around $41.50.

Even after the huge 2017 run, Intel is nowhere near its dot-com peak of $75.83 just yet. However, when its 2000 share prices are adjusted for dividend payments issued over the years, Intel is now within a stone's throw of its dividend-adjusted all-time high of $51.72.

Joel Elconin contributed to this story.

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Image credit: Michael Sandoval from Pleasant Hill, CA, USA (Flickr) [CC BY-SA 2.0]