Intel (INTC) saw an +11.7% surge yesterday that pushed shares into new four-year highs, seeming to signal a sudden burst of optimism heading into the chipmaker’s quarterly earnings in today’s postmarket.

Yesterday’s close of 54.25 marks a roughly +56% rally in only 18 trading days for the iconic tech company, as the Street’s estimates for this afternoon come in for earnings-per-share of $0.08 against last year’s figure of $0.13 (-38.4%) and for revenue of $13.37B compared to $14.26B (-6.2%) year-over-year.

Meanwhile, the options market projected a potential expected move of about +/-4.8 (8.9%) for this Friday’s expiration capturing earnings.

Intel, which in many ways could be described as the Nvidia (NVDA) of the 1990’s, was a colossus in the field that has since fallen on harder times as product stagnation and institutional bloat sent shares tumbling.

But things seem to be shifting more toward the upside again, with major recent catalysts including new CEO Lip Bu Tan’s turnaround efforts and the U.S. government taking a roughly 10% stake in the company in August. Also providing recent support for Intel’s stock was Nvidia’s $5 Billion investment along with over $2 Billion from Softbank.

From a technical perspective, the recent previous high just above 50 seem like one point traders may be eyeing for near-term resistance, as old highs can often transition into supportive areas. Below that, the 44 level is the next standout price area making highs from early December.

The yearly Volume Profile study shows a small node near the 48 level that coincides with the yearly +1 Standard Deviation Channel, so this could be another noteworthy area. To the upside, the yearly SDC +2 channel comes in near 56.

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