Over-subscription nearly 8 times! Intel Corporation (INTC.US) $6.5 billion bond issuance frenzy, former chip giant returns to the spotlight.

In recent years, due to the continuous deterioration of its profitability, Intel Corporation's credit rating has been repeatedly downgraded. However, on Monday, bond investors showed through their actions that the market is starting to feel optimistic about the recovery and transformation prospects of this chip giant. According to sources, this chip manufacturer attracted approximately 5 billion USD in orders during the process of issuing 6.5 billion USD in bonds. The funds raised from this bond issuance will be used to repurchase a portion of the shares of a chip factory in Ireland previously sold by Intel Corporation. For years, Intel Corporation has been struggling to regain its leading technological position as it continues to lose market share in the computer chip market. During this time, its credit rating has dropped from A to BBB, just a few notches above junk status. In 2025, the U.S. government acquired shares of Intel Corporation through a non-traditional transaction led by the White House. Last week, Intel Corporation sent a clear signal of recovery with its sales forecast exceeding Wall Street's expectations by a large margin. Investors are increasingly optimistic that the company has seized the opportunities brought about by the surge in artificial intelligence (AI) spending. The company's stock price has also reached an all-time high. According to a source familiar with the bond issuance, the bond issuance plan on Monday had been prepared for some time, and the recent positive performance added momentum to this issuance. The pricing of this bond was only slightly higher than Intel Corporation's existing bonds, with a premium of 0 to 0.05 percentage points, showing strong market demand. The subscription multiple for this issuance was about 7.7 times the issuance size, compared to an average subscription multiple of 4 times in the market so far this year. Investors' confidence in Intel Corporation's recovery prospects has also been evident in the credit derivative market. This month, the cost of protection against default on Intel Corporation bonds has decreased: on Monday, the annual fee for a five-year credit default swap was around 0.6 percentage points, compared to about 0.85 percentage points at the end of March. The bond issuance was jointly underwritten by Citigroup, JPMorgan, Barclays PLC Sponsored ADR, Bank of America Corp, and Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft. Representatives of Intel Corporation and the aforementioned banks either declined to comment or did not immediately respond to interview requests. The funds raised from this bond issuance will be used to support Intel Corporation's repurchase of a 49% stake in its Irish Fab 34 joint venture with Apollo Global Management Inc (APO.US) for 14.2 billion USD. This private equity firm acquired the stake for 11.2 billion USD in 2024, and at that time Intel Corporation stated that the proceeds would be used for new production technology research and development at this factory and other domestic facilities in the U.S. Compiled data shows that Intel Corporation last issued U.S. dollar bonds in February 2024. Its joint venture manufacturing plant with Brookfield Infrastructure (BIP.US) raised nearly 12 billion USD through three bond issuances in 2024 and 2025. According to a source familiar with the matter, among the five tranches of bonds issued on Monday, the longest maturity is in 2066 with a yield 1.3 percentage points higher than U.S. Treasury bonds, narrowing about 0.35 percentage points from the initial price guidance. This issuance was the largest among 12 senior bond issuances that day, reflecting the active trading in the U.S. debt capital markets.