Intel shares fell 28.6% in a single session - the company's worst day since 1974. The crash happened on Friday, October 30, during US trading.
Intel is one of the largest processor manufacturers. Such stocks are considered heavyweights: moves of tens of percent in a day are rare for them.
This matters to traders because of the levels. On Monday the market opens after the plunge, and the reference points are Friday's low and the nearest prices above and below.
What the day's numbers showed
The day's range was $63.20-$68.77. Volume was 455.5 million shares.
- $64.88 - the level the stock fell to in the evening session, i.e. in after-hours trading. That is below the closing price.
- About 150% - how much Intel had gained since the start of the year before the report.
- About $12 billion - how much the US government's stake in Intel, i.e. 10% of the shares, lost in value on Friday. It is still in profit.
- About $6 billion - the losses of Nvidia's stake.
- 105,263 shares at an average price of $95 - how much Intel chief Lip-Bu Tan bought in August, roughly $10 million worth.
Why the stock crashed
There were two reasons, and they landed on the same day.
- Weak earnings. The results disappointed the market.
- An explosion at the Fab 28 plant in Israel. It will cost about $600 million in revenue over two quarters.
How analysts reacted
In a single session, 17 investment houses cut their target prices. A target price is the level an analyst expects the stock to reach.
- Truist - from $108 to $72
- Roth (analyst Suji Desilva) - from $120 to $70
- Baird - from $125 to $83
- Jefferies (Blayne Curtis) - from $120 to $85
- StoneX - from $140 to $100
Ratings were downgraded too. D.A. Davidson, Bank of America and Roth moved the stock to neutral. The average market target is $102.03.
The consensus is "hold": 2 "strong buy", 20 "buy", 26 "hold", 2 "sell". The consensus is the combined recommendation of all analysts.
What's next
The reference points for Monday's open are already clear.
- $63.20 - Friday's low
- $59 - the nearest level below
- $74 - the nearest level above
Even the lowest of the new targets is above the market. Roth's $70 is roughly 6% above the current price.
Key point: almost everyone cut their targets, but every new target is above the closing price, and at the open the levels that matter are $63.20, $59 and $74.
You can trade such gaps where individual US stocks are available in the instruments. It's convenient to check the terms in the prop firm catalog or find a challenge for US stocks.
Did you watch these -28% from the sidelines?
Everyone who had a terminal open on Friday saw a 28% candle in a first-tier stock. Beyond that, everything comes down to access: some prop firms don't have individual US stocks in their instrument list at all - only index contracts, where one stock's plunge is spread across hundreds of others. Somewhere, entry on earnings day is closed by a separate risk rule. Those clauses in the rulebook are read before paying for an evaluation, not after.