Intel to launch $15B stock sale amid AI boom, advanced packaging demand

Intel announced plans to raise $15 billion through a stock sale, with banks underwriting the deal having the option to purchase an additional $2.25 billion within 30 days. This follows a year of significant growth for Intel, with its stock price tripling and revenue from its data center and artificial intelligence business jumping 59% last quarter.

While the company has not detailed how it plans to spend the funds, Intel expects to allocate the majority to chipmaking equipment. The offering comes at a time when Intel sees significant growth opportunities in physical AI, purpose-built silicon, advanced packaging, and external wafers. Advanced packaging, used to link multiple silicon dies into a single chip, is particularly relevant for AI accelerators and graphics cards.

Intel is reportedly close to signing advanced packaging deals worth billions of dollars annually, which the stock sale could help finance. The company has already invested heavily in upgrading its Fab 9 facility in New Mexico, with a $3.5 billion commitment in 2021. Recently, Intel has introduced new products to its advanced packaging lineup, including EMIB-T, a technology that replaces the traditional interposer with a smaller, less expensive interconnect and includes power delivery wires to boost chip efficiency.

Intel has also started mass-producing chips using ASML's newest High NA lithography equipment, which allows for the creation of smaller, more efficient transistors. The stock sale could facilitate Intel's efforts to bring this technology to more fabrication facilities.