Intel to Exit Dow After 25 Years, Replaced by Nvidia as AI Revolution Drives Change
Intel Corporation, a long-standing member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, will be replaced by Nvidia after a 25-year tenure, S&P Dow Jones Indices announced on Friday. This shift underscores a challenging period for Intel, which, despite its early leadership in semiconductor manufacturing, has struggled to keep pace with rivals like Taiwan’s TSMC and missed key opportunities in artificial intelligence, including a chance to invest in OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT.
Intel’s stock, down 54% this year, holds the lowest share price among the price-weighted Dow constituents, leading to its removal. In contrast, Nvidia, whose shares surged by over 100% in 2023, has become an essential player in the semiconductor sector. Nvidia’s graphics processors are critical in powering generative AI technologies, a role that has propelled the company to the position of the world’s second-most valuable chipmaker and a key indicator of the AI market’s rapid growth.
Intel, which first entered the Dow as one of the two original tech stocks, once transformed computing with its processors. Its “Intel Inside” branding became a staple on consumer laptops during the 1990s, positioning the company as a premium component supplier. However, Nvidia’s expanding role in AI and its recent 10-for-1 stock split have made the company’s shares more accessible to investors, facilitating its addition to the Dow.
Intel shares dipped around 1% following the announcement, while Nvidia shares rose by 1.5%, highlighting the market’s embrace of Nvidia as a new representative of tech innovation within the Dow.
