J.P. Morgan upgrades Intel to 'neutral', shares rise

** Shares of chipmaker Intel INTC.O rise nearly 4% to $93.41 premarket

** J.P. Morgan upgrades stock rating to "neutral" from "underweight", expects rising agentic AI workloads and tight advanced chip supply to support positive earnings estimate revisions through 2027

** Brokerage says co has improved execution under CEO Lip-Bu Tan, with stronger chip competitiveness, better manufacturing progress and growth opportunities in Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs)

** Adds, it is watching co's execution on data center CPUs, AI strategy, foundry customer traction, ASIC design wins and efforts to strengthen its data center networking portfolio

** 49 analysts rate stock "hold" on average; median PT is $111 -- data compiled by LSEG

** Up to last day's close, stock had risen 143.5% YTD