Intel jumps 10% as incoming CEO Tan brings 'instant credibility' to turnaround efforts

March 13 (Reuters) - Incoming Intel INTC.O CEO Lip-Bu Tan brings "instant credibility" that should help restore investor confidence and support the company's efforts to become a major contract chipmaker, Wall Street analysts said on Thursday.

The stock jumped 10% in premarket trading, a day after the 65-year-old industry veteran was tasked with steering the company, which has missed out on the artificial intelligence-driven semiconductor boom and has been plowing billions of dollars into building out its chip-making business.

"Tan in as CEO at Intel was as good as stakeholders could have hoped for," said TD Cowen analysts, noting that he has "deep relationships" across the chip ecosystem that could draw customers to the company's contract manufacturing business.

Tan will take the helm next week — three months after Intel ousted CEO Pat Gelsinger. Disagreements over the company's direction had led to Tan's departure from the board last year.

Analysts expect Tan to follow Gelsinger in keeping the chip design and manufacturing operations together — a plan that Tan hinted at in a letter to employees by vowing to make Intel a top foundry, an industry term for a contract chip manufacturer.

Skepticism about Intel's future has deepened in recent months amid reports that rivals, including Broadcom AVGO.O, were evaluating the chip design and marketing business, while TSMC 2330.TW has separately studied controlling some or all of its plants.

The reports have followed several quarters of market share losses in data centers and PCs, as well as billion-dollar losses in Intel's manufacturing business. Some analysts have said the foundry business may find it difficult to draw orders from chip designers wary of entrusting production to a rival.

But Tan, who oversaw more than a decade of strong growth at Intel supplier and chip-design software Cadence Design Systems CDNS.O, enjoys strong credibility as a "neutral party" that could help Intel overcome some of the challenges, analysts said.

Stacy Rasgon of Bernstein also said Tan's previous two-year tenure on the Intel board would aid his efforts.

That "should have given him a pretty good idea of where all the bodies are buried, and he should be much realistic in his evaluations and outlook than prior leadership (it was unbridled optimism proved to be Pat's undoing)," Rasgon said.

Still, any turnaround is expected to take years, as hinted by Tan in his letter to employees.

Intel's market value has remained stuck below $100 billion for the first time in three decades after shares slumped 60% last year and its Gaudi AI chips have also missed sales targets.

More analysts recommend investors "sell" the stock than "buy" it, with most having a "hold" rating, LSEG data shows.

Rasgon said Tan "has a big job in front of him and a lot of wood to chop, though it does seem increasingly likely something will have to change giving investors something more concrete to play for (and if he fails, it was probably unfixable)."