Intel Earnings Expand the AI Semiconductor Rally: Why Japan’s Nikkei Briefly Touched 60,000 as TOPIX Lagged

Table of Contents

Three Key Points

・Intel’s stronger-than-expected earnings signaled that AI demand is spreading beyond NVIDIA’s GPUs into CPUs, memory, semiconductor equipment, testing tools and data center infrastructure.

・Japan’s Nikkei 225 briefly touched the 60,000 level, but the move was driven heavily by a narrow group of AI and semiconductor-related large-cap stocks such as Advantest, Tokyo Electron and SoftBank Group.

・The widening gap between the Nikkei 225 and TOPIX suggests that Japan’s latest stock rally is not a broad-based market surge, but a concentrated AI infrastructure trade.

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Intel’s latest earnings have triggered a fresh wave of buying across global semiconductor stocks, reinforcing the view that the AI boom is spreading beyond GPUs and into the broader infrastructure needed to build and operate AI data centers.

Intel reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of $13.6 billion, up 7% from a year earlier. Its Data Center and AI segment generated $5.1 billion in revenue, up 22% year over year. The company also reported $5.4 billion in revenue from its Foundry segment, showing that demand related to AI servers and chip manufacturing capacity remains a major focus for investors.

Reuters reported that Intel’s second-quarter revenue forecast came in above market expectations, supported by demand for server processors used in AI data centers. The company’s stock surged after the announcement, helping lift the broader U.S. semiconductor sector.

The reaction was not limited to Intel. Semiconductor-related shares including AMD and Arm also gained, as investors interpreted Intel’s results as evidence that AI demand is moving beyond NVIDIA’s GPUs and into CPUs, memory, chip design, manufacturing and data center infrastructure.

A similar pattern appeared in Japan. On April 23, the Nikkei 225 briefly rose above 60,000 for the first time, reaching an intraday high of 60,013.98. However, the index later reversed and closed lower, while TOPIX also declined. The move showed that the rally was not evenly spread across the Japanese market.

The main drivers were AI and semiconductor-related large-cap stocks such as Advantest, Tokyo Electron and SoftBank Group. Because the Nikkei 225 is heavily influenced by high-priced stocks, gains in a small number of large technology-linked names can make the index look much stronger than the broader market.

Background

AI Demand Is No Longer Just About GPUs

The first phase of the AI stock rally was dominated by NVIDIA. That made sense. Training and running large AI models requires massive parallel computing power, and NVIDIA’s GPUs became the core hardware of the AI boom.

However, an AI data center cannot operate on GPUs alone.

A large AI system also needs CPUs, high-bandwidth memory, networking equipment, storage, power supply systems, cooling infrastructure, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, testing tools and advanced packaging. As AI workloads expand from model training into inference, enterprise services and AI agents, demand spreads across the entire server and data center stack.

Intel’s earnings mattered because Intel is not the main GPU winner. It is better known for CPUs, server processors and manufacturing ambitions. When a company that had been viewed as an AI laggard produces strong AI-related data center results, investors begin to reassess the entire AI infrastructure chain.

The market reaction was therefore not just about Intel’s revenue. It was about what Intel’s numbers suggested: AI demand may be broader and deeper than previously assumed.

Why Intel Had Been Underestimated

Intel had been undervalued by many investors for several reasons.

For years, the company was seen as having fallen behind TSMC in advanced manufacturing. While TSMC became the preferred manufacturing partner for Apple, NVIDIA, AMD and other leading chip designers, Intel struggled with process delays and execution concerns.

Intel was also not viewed as a central AI winner. NVIDIA owned the GPU narrative. AMD had a clearer AI acceleration story. Arm benefited from interest in power-efficient data center and custom cloud chips. Intel, by contrast, was still associated with PCs, legacy CPUs and costly restructuring.

Its foundry business also remained a burden. Intel Foundry is strategically important, but it requires huge capital investment and has generated heavy operating losses. Investors were reluctant to reward the company’s manufacturing ambitions before seeing clearer proof of demand, yield improvement and external customer traction.

That is why the latest earnings had such a large psychological impact.

The market did not suddenly decide that Intel had replaced NVIDIA. Instead, investors saw Intel’s results as evidence that even companies previously viewed as AI laggards are now benefiting from the AI infrastructure buildout.

This explains the market reaction often summarized as: if even Intel is seeing this level of demand, then the broader AI infrastructure cycle may be stronger than expected.

CPU Demand Is Being Revalued

The AI boom is usually discussed through the lens of GPUs, but CPUs remain essential in data centers.

GPUs handle massive parallel computation. CPUs coordinate the server, manage data flows, support networking, run cloud infrastructure and control the broader system environment. As AI becomes embedded in enterprise software, search, advertising, cloud computing and business workflows, demand is not limited to a single type of accelerator.

This is why Intel’s Data Center and AI segment attracted attention.

Its results suggested that AI-related spending is also supporting CPU demand. That has implications not only for Intel, but also for AMD, Arm and other companies tied to server infrastructure.

The market is beginning to price AI not simply as a GPU story, but as a full-stack infrastructure cycle.

Analysis

The AI Trade Is Moving From “Chip Winners” to “Infrastructure Winners”

The most important shift in this market is that investors are no longer only asking which company sells the best AI chip.

They are now asking which companies are essential to building the AI infrastructure layer.

That includes GPU makers, CPU suppliers, memory manufacturers, foundries, semiconductor equipment makers, testing equipment companies, advanced packaging providers, power infrastructure firms, cooling companies and data center operators.

Intel’s results accelerated this shift. Since Intel had not been seen as a central AI winner, its strong data center performance made investors reconsider the size of the opportunity across the entire AI supply chain.

This is why the rally spread beyond Intel. A single earnings report became a signal that AI capital expenditure is reaching more parts of the semiconductor ecosystem.

Japan’s Role Is Different From America’s

Japan does not have a company like NVIDIA at the center of the global GPU market.

However, Japan has important companies in areas that support AI semiconductor production and data center expansion. These include semiconductor testing equipment, chipmaking tools, materials, electronic components, optical communication technologies and power-related infrastructure.

That is why Japanese names such as Advantest, Tokyo Electron and SoftBank Group reacted strongly to the global AI rally.

Advantest is linked to semiconductor testing.
Tokyo Electron is a major semiconductor equipment company.
SoftBank Group is tied to AI investment themes and Arm.

These companies do not represent the whole Japanese economy. They represent Japan’s exposure to the AI infrastructure supply chain.

That distinction is critical when interpreting the Nikkei 225’s move above 60,000.

The Nikkei 225 Is Not the Same as the Broader Japanese Market

The Nikkei 225 is a price-weighted index. This means high-priced stocks can have a much larger impact on the index than their broader economic weight might suggest.

When high-priced AI and semiconductor-related stocks rise sharply, the Nikkei 225 can surge even if many other Japanese stocks are flat or falling.

TOPIX, on the other hand, is more representative of the broader Japanese equity market because it is based on free-float adjusted market capitalization. It includes a wider range of sectors, including banks, trading houses, automakers, telecoms, domestic demand stocks and industrial companies.

The recent divergence between the Nikkei 225 and TOPIX shows that the latest rally was highly concentrated.

The Nikkei briefly touching 60,000 was not simply a sign that all Japanese stocks were booming. It was also a sign that AI and semiconductor-related large-cap stocks had become powerful enough to pull the headline index sharply higher.

Why the TOPIX Divergence Matters

A broad-based bull market usually shows strength across many sectors. In such a market, TOPIX tends to confirm the strength of the Nikkei.

This time, the gap between the two indices suggests something more concentrated.

The AI semiconductor trade is powerful, but the broader Japanese market has not moved with the same intensity. That means investors should be careful when interpreting the Nikkei’s milestone as a simple reflection of Japan’s entire economy.

The better interpretation is that Japan’s stock market is being pulled upward by a narrow but globally important theme: AI infrastructure.

This does not mean the rally is fake. It means the source of the rally is specific.

The strength is real, but it is concentrated.

Supply Constraints Are Supporting the Rally

The AI infrastructure rally is not only about demand. It is also about limited supply.

GPUs, high-bandwidth memory, advanced packaging, semiconductor equipment, testing capacity, power infrastructure and cooling systems cannot be scaled instantly. When demand rises faster than supply, pricing power and margins can remain strong for the companies positioned in the right parts of the value chain.

This is why the market is rewarding companies beyond NVIDIA.

If AI data center construction continues, demand will keep spreading into the tools, components and infrastructure required to support that expansion.

Japan’s semiconductor equipment and testing companies are therefore being valued not as secondary players, but as critical links in the AI supply chain.

The Next Phase Will Bring Stronger Stock Selection

The AI semiconductor rally may continue, but it is likely to become more selective.

In the early phase of a theme-driven market, many companies can rise simply because they are connected to the word “AI.” In the next phase, investors will pay more attention to actual revenue, margins, orders, capacity constraints and competitive positioning.

Companies with real exposure to AI infrastructure may continue to attract capital.

Companies that are only loosely connected to the theme may become vulnerable if expectations move too far ahead of fundamentals.

This is the main risk behind the current rally.

The story is powerful because the demand is real.
The risk is that markets may start pricing every AI-related company as if it has the same level of exposure.

Intel’s earnings showed that the AI infrastructure cycle is broader than many expected. But the broader the theme becomes, the more important it is to separate essential suppliers from speculative beneficiaries.

Conclusion

Intel’s earnings did more than lift one stock. They changed how investors looked at the AI semiconductor trade.

The market had already priced NVIDIA as the dominant GPU winner. It had already recognized TSMC as a key manufacturing partner for advanced AI chips. But Intel’s strong data center results suggested that AI demand is now spreading into CPUs, server infrastructure, memory, foundries and the broader data center ecosystem.

That is why the reaction was so strong.

In Japan, the same global shift appeared through the Nikkei 225. The index briefly touched 60,000, but the move was driven largely by AI and semiconductor-related large-cap stocks such as Advantest, Tokyo Electron and SoftBank Group.

The divergence between the Nikkei 225 and TOPIX shows that this was not a simple broad-based Japan rally. It was a concentrated AI infrastructure rally reflected through Japan’s most visible stock index.

The AI semiconductor boom is entering a new phase.

The first phase was about GPUs.
The next phase is about the infrastructure needed to support AI at scale.

Intel’s earnings showed that this transition is already underway. Japan’s market reaction showed how strongly that global capital flow can affect the Nikkei when investors focus on AI-related semiconductor and infrastructure stocks.

Intel Earnings Expand the AI Semiconductor Rally: Why Japan’s Nikkei Briefly Touched 60,000 as TOPIX Lagged

Three Key Points

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