New reports probably should have been worse for chip stock Intel (INTC) than they turned out to be, as new reports noted that the age of Intel processors in Apple (AAPL) Mac computers was comping to an end. But Intel shareholders treated this revelation like a grand celebration, and sent shares blasting up over 8% in Tuesday afternoon’s trading.

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The reports noted that MacOS Tahoe will be the last version of MacOS to offer support for Macs that use Intel processors. This includes several older MacBook Pro, iMac and Mac Pro models, and those who have these computers will still be able to enjoy the updates made available with the launch of Tahoe later on. However, there is one caveat: Apple Intelligence will not be made available to those computers. Apple Intelligence requires Apple processors to run, reports note.

The loss of Apple as a customer for some desktop hardware was not exactly unexpected. Apple has been working to migrate from Intel to its own processors for the last five years, reports noted, but Apple promised to support Intel processors “…for years to come.” Five years later, that promise seems to have been kept, and is reaching its end accordingly.

Brighter Days

So what in the world sent Intel rocketing up? There was some good news out for Intel along with the bad news, The entire chip sector got something of a boost from talks with China in the trade field, giving Intel a bit of a “halo effect” boost. Reports noted that “…hopes that the talks between the U.S. and China will result in looser export restrictions” helped fuel Intel’s impressive gains today.

And, Intel also benefited from moves at the Department of Defense, which says that the DoD is likely to offer up “…operational technology-specific zero trust guidance,” according to Intel’s federal chief technology officer. The move will provide guidance on specific cybersecurity protections to implement in a bid to maintain military systems, including things like weapons systems, sensor arrays, and shipyard systems, among others.

Is Intel a Buy, Hold or Sell?

Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on INTC stock based on one Buy, 26 Holds and four Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 33.76% loss in its share price over the past year, the average INTC price target of $21.29 per share implies 3.88% downside risk.

See more INTC analyst ratings

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