Intel shares climb after Barclays upgrade; analyst calls computer market ’solid’

Intel shares climb after Barclays upgrade

NEW YORK — Shares of Intel Corp., the world’s biggest chip maker, edged higher Monday after Barclays Capital upgraded the company, citing “solid” market conditions in the computer industry and a cheap share price.

The stock rose 64 cents, or 3.3 percent, to $20.27 in morning trading.

Intel’s legal headaches have multiplied, with the Federal Trade Commission suing the company last week over its sales tactics. But Intel has nevertheless benefited from recovering demand for the personal computers its chips run.

Intel’s third-quarter earnings and sales both slipped 8 percent from the year before but came in well ahead of Wall Street expectations.

Barclays analyst Tim Luke, who upgraded Intel to “Overweight” from “Equal Weight” in a note Monday, pointed out that Intel’s stock has underperformed relative to the Nasdaq and other semiconductor stocks.

Shares of Intel, which is based in Santa Clara, Calif., are up about 30 percent from the beginning of the year, while the Nasdaq is up more than 40 percent and the Philadelphia Semiconductor index is up almost 63 percent.

Luke held his price target for Intel shares at $24.