These days, it is fairly simple to predict Intel's stock price trajectory: the stock is down on an otherwise up day, and it is down on a generally red day. This chronic underperformance, which has seen Intel shares sink around 60 percent so far this year, is now likely to deprive the stock of a key source of passive inflows: the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) index.
To wit, Reuters is now reporting that Intel is likely to get booted off the Dow Jones index. Bear in mind that the DJIA rebalances quarterly, when stocks are added or removed systematically from the market cap-weighed index based on an extensive criteria.
Of course, such a removal would be particularly ignominious for Intel, which was one of only two tech stocks - the other being Microsoft - to join the Dow Jones Industrial Average during the dot-com bubble of the 90s. Intel's removal from the index will deprive the stock of a key source of passive funding that a blue chip index component typically receives, potentially leading to further losses.
This development comes as Intel is preparing to pitch a broad-based revival plan at its upcoming board meeting. As we noted recently, the chipmaker reportedly plans to unload its majority stake in its FPGA arm, Altera, and institute a construction freeze on its $30 billion facility in Germany.
However, the broad-based reforms will likely not see the struggling company divest its chip manufacturing arm, formally known as the Intel Foundry.
Intel is reportedly working with a number of financial advisers, including the Wall Street behemoth Morgan Stanley, to come up with strategic options for its upcoming board meeting. These advisors are presumably also aiding Intel in fending off a rumored high-profile attack from activist investors.
To conserve cash, Intel has slashed its dividends and laid off 13.6 percent of its workforce of around 110,000 employees at the start of the year. The company has also cut its capital spending for 2025 by 17 percent to just $21.5 billion.
At the time of writing, Intel shares are down around 6 percent in the regular trading session. The company's market cap now stands at just $89.30 billion.
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.
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