BUZZ-Intel extends gains amid M&A speculation; HSBC upgrades to 'hold'

** Shares of Intel INTC.O extends gains premarket after hitting a seven-week high on Friday following M&A speculation

** Brokerage HSBC also raises co to "hold" from "reduce"; reiterates PT at $20

** INTC shares up 4% at $22.35 premarket

** Last week, chip-focused publication SemiAccurate reported that an unnamed company was considering buying Intel "whole," citing email and confirmation from "high-level source"

** HSBC said headwinds from its CEO change and execution of the IDM 2.0 strategy could be priced in but says it is too early to have a clear view on the overall business recovery

** 2 of 45 brokerages rate the stock "buy" or higher, 36 "hold" and 7 "sell" or lower; median PT is $25 - LSEG

** Going into Q1 2025, brokerage expects downside to Intel's revenue, potentially driven by weaker-than-expected data center segment performance

** With INTC set to report on Jan.30, HSBC forecasts Q4 results to be in line with market expectations

** Stock down ~60% in 2024

(Reporting by Kanchana Chakravarty in Bengaluru)

((Kanchana.Chakravarty@thomsonreuters.com))