Here’s a little surprise for your Monday: chip stock Intel (INTC) lost its CEO, Pat Gelsinger, a few hours ago. But the move doesn’t appear to have gone down well with investors, as Intel shares fell slightly in Monday afternoon trading.

Intel announced that Gelsinger has retired effective December 1st. Now Intel will take the co-CEO route and appoint CFO David Zinsner and product manager MJ Holthaus to the position. Given all of Intel’s recent cost cutting, one might think that they want to save money and not hire two CEOs to do the former’s job.

As for the question of “did he leave or was he kicked out,” reports seem to vary. A CNBC The report referred to Gelsinger’s “removal” after “…a contentious board meeting last week over Gelsinger’s perceived inability to respond to Nvidia’s competitive advantage and a lack of confidence in Gelsinger’s turnaround plans.” It probably didn’t help that Intel due to of CHIPS Act payouts poured heavily into building factories across the United States, only to see those payouts cut and potentially threatened by the incoming Trump administration.

News about Battlemage to follow

The battle mage was also revealed in a bit more detail today Gizmodo Report noted that Intel will publicly reveal more about the Battlemage soon. Actually, Gizmodo noted that the Battlemage will likely prove to be a budget-friendly option, even if graphics processing units (GPUs) like those from Nvidia (NVDA) appear to be the higher-end option.

In fact, Intel has already released a teaser video for the Battlemage and notes that more information about it will be released tomorrow. The only question that remains is how well the official line lines up with the leaks that have already surfaced, as Intel looks to take back some of its market share from its growing number of competitors.

Is Intel a Buy, a Hold or a Sell?

As for Wall Street, analysts have a consensus rating on INTC stock of “Hold” based on one buy, 22 holds, and seven sells over the last three months, as shown in the chart below. Following a share price loss of 43.17% over the past year, INTC’s average price target of $24.43 per share implies an upside potential of 2.69%.

See more INTC analyst ratings

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