Nvidia pushes Intel out of the Dow Jones Index after 25 years

Changing winds in the technology industry

The Dow Jones Industrial Average serves as a benchmark for the U.S. stock market by tracking 30 large public companies that represent important sectors of the U.S. economy. Membership in the index has long been considered a sign of prestige among American companies.

However, S&P regularly makes changes to the index to better reflect current market realities and trends, so removal from the index likely represents a new symbolic low for Intel.

While the rise of AI has caused several tech stocks to rise, it has brought hard times for chipmaker Intel, perhaps best known for making CPUs for Windows-based PCs.

Intel recently withdrew its forecast of selling over $500 million worth of AI-focused Gaudi chips in 2024, a goal that CEO Pat Gelsinger had given after initially pushing his team to achieve sales of $1 billion is forecast. The setback follows Intel's pattern of missed opportunities in the AI ​​space. Reuters reported that Bank of America analyst Vivek Arya questioned the company's AI strategy during a recent earnings call.

Additionally, Intel has faced challenges as device makers increasingly turn to Arm-based alternatives that power billions of smartphone devices, and with symbolic setbacks like Apple's transition away from Intel processors for Macs to its own, custom-built chips built on Arm architecture based.

Whether the historic tech company will recover remains to be seen, but investors will undoubtedly be keeping a close eye on Intel as the company tries to reorient itself amid changing trends in the tech industry.