Intel (INTC) is partying like it’s 2000.
The storied US chipmaker is pushing to fresh highs one day after punching through its first record since August 2000 — a two-and-a-half-decade round trip that turns one of the AI market’s hottest comeback stories into a cautionary tale.
The lesson is that even an iconic technology stock can spend a generation repairing the damage from one bad entry point.
Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi flagged a Deutsche Bank note calling Intel’s surge “a potent lesson for investors,” with the bank noting that Intel was the second-largest stock by market value at its 2000 peak.
Deutsche Bank also pointed out the brutal opportunity cost: Over the same stretch, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) climbed roughly 370%, or more than 650% with dividends reinvested.
Intel is not an isolated case.
Across the chip industry — from semiconductor designers and manufacturers to the companies that make, test, package, and supply semiconductors — the dot-com peak left a long shadow.
Some stocks eventually broke free and kept compounding. Others only recently reclaimed their old highs. And some are still below the levels investors paid more than 25 years ago.
|
Status |
Examples |
What happened |
|
Finally reclaimed the dot-com high |
Intel (INTC), Cisco (CSCO), AXT (AXTI), Rambus (RMBS), Amkor (AMKR), Photronics (PLAB) |
These stocks took roughly a quarter-century to clear their 2000 peaks, turning a once-hot entry point into decades of dead money. |
|
Still below the dot-com high |
Tower Semiconductor (TSEM), Veeco (VECO), Vishay (VSH), STMicroelectronics (STM), Cohu (COHU), Skyworks (SWKS) |
More than 25 years later, these stocks still have not fully repaired the bubble-era damage. |
|
Broke out and kept compounding |
Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM), Applied Materials (AMAT), AMD (AMD), Micron (MU), Analog Devices (ADI), Texas Instruments (TXN), Teradyne (TER) |
These are the survivors that eventually turned old resistance into a launchpad — but only after years or decades of repair. |
Even that table understates the damage.
It only includes companies that survived long enough to still be tracked, creating survivorship bias. The companies that disappeared, merged away, or faded into irrelevance would make the lesson harsher.
But the winners are real.
Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) is up more than 1,000% from its 2000 peak, while Applied Materials (AMAT) and AMD (AMD) are each up more than 600%. Micron (MU), Teradyne (TER), Analog Devices (ADI), and Texas Instruments (TXN) also moved well beyond their dot-com highs, with gains ranging from 177% to 410%.
