--- title: "JPMorgan lifted Intel while its Israeli fab leaked again, five days after the blast that killed two workers" description: "Workers sheltered in place at Intel's Kiryat Gat plant on Monday as monitors caught a nitrogen trifluoride leak, five days after a tank failure killed two colleagues. The same morning JPMorgan ended a nearly four-year bear call and the stock rose about 4% pre-market; Intel still has not said whether the plant is running." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Silicon" published: 2026-10-19T14:25:22.519Z modified: 2026-10-19T14:25:22.519Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/jpmorgan-lifted-intel-while-its-israeli-fab-leaked-again-five-days-after-the-blast-that-killed-two-workers language: en keywords: "Intel, JPMorgan, Semiconductors, Israel, Safety, Analyst Ratings" --- # JPMorgan lifted Intel while its Israeli fab leaked again, five days after the blast that killed two workers > Workers sheltered in place at Intel's Kiryat Gat plant on Monday as monitors caught a nitrogen trifluoride leak, five days after a tank failure killed two colleagues. The same morning JPMorgan ended a nearly four-year bear call and the stock rose about 4% pre-market; Intel still has not said whether the plant is running. Monday morning at [Intel](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/intel)'s plant in Kiryat Gat, southern Israel, the company's own [monitoring systems caught nitrogen trifluoride](https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rypgmdmhze) during preparations to remove gas tanks from the site, and employees sheltered in place. [1][2] NF3, as the gas is known, cleans and etches silicon wafers in chipmaking and is toxic to inhale. [3][8] Five days earlier, on October 14, the neck of a tank holding eight tons of it ruptured during a truck unloading at the same site. [1][2][3] Yakir Kosashvili, 35, died the day of the blast; Ilya Chechulin, 49, died the next day at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba. [2][3] A third worker, in his 20s, is sedated and on a ventilator. [1][2] ## An upgrade built on execution Fire services said [Monday's release stayed inside the plant fence](https://www.ynetnews.com/article/jt17pfl24), with no casualties and no danger to residents. [2][4] By the time New York opened, JPMorgan analyst Harlan Sur had ended an Underweight rating, a sell-equivalent call in place since November 2022, and lifted Intel to Neutral, a hold, with an $85 target. [5][6] Shares, up 143% this year, were indicated roughly 4% higher pre-market. [5][6][7] None of the three upgrade write-ups ties the call to the plant; [CoinCentral](https://coincentral.com/intel-intc-stock-jumps-pre-market-after-jpmorgan-upgrade-despite-friday-drop/) gives the blast a single clause. [5][6][7] Intel has not said whether Fab 28, the Kiryat Gat line that makes chips on the Intel 7 process, is running. [8][9] ## The numbers the note does carry *Chart: **JPMorgan's $85 target sits below the close; the rest of the street is $109 to $145** Intel price targets: JPMorgan $85, street consensus $109.06, Piper Sandler $110, TD Cowen $115, Tigress Financial $145, with Friday's $89.85 close as a reference line.* *Analyst price targets on Intel from actions compiled by CoinCentral (consensus from MarketBeat), October 19, 2026. Reference line is INTC's Friday close of $89.85. [5]* Sur's case is execution under chief executive [Lip-Bu Tan](https://theinference.org/markets/people/lip-bu-tan), and his own arithmetic shows the distance: [external foundry revenue of $467 million in the first half of 2026](https://www.tipranks.com/news/j-p-morgans-take-on-intel), about $934 million annualized, against roughly $150 billion annualized at [TSMC](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/tsmc), the Taiwanese company that dominates contract chipmaking. [6][7] Server-chip share has slid from 77% to 53% since November 2022, with further losses expected over the next few quarters. [6][7] Kiryat Gat's planned expansion, backed by [a $3.2 billion Israeli grant secured at the start of 2024](https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/two-workers-killed-third-injured-in-explosion-at-intels-kiryat-gat-fab-in-israel/), was paused within months. [8] ## Rare, contained, and unanswered until October 29 The other side: fire investigators call the tank failure highly unusual and still cannot say whether it was wear or something preventable, and Kiryat Gat police commander Shai Aleli said [investigators had yet to determine whether crime or negligence was involved](https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/ay5slvopq). [1][3] Monday's leak was caught by Intel's own monitors, and the company says it is working in full coordination with the authorities. [2][8] Deaths at chip plants are rare enough that Oregon's semiconductor industry appears to have recorded one: an Intel contractor crushed inside a manufacturing tool in 2017. [10] Intel reports third-quarter results on October 29, with consensus at $0.40 a share on $16.5 billion of revenue. [6] Listen for a number attached to Kiryat Gat, because the factory that has to make the turnaround real is the one still under investigation. [1][2] ## Takeaway JPMorgan ended a nearly four-year bear call on Intel the same morning its Kiryat Gat fab leaked nitrogen trifluoride again, five days after a tank rupture killed two workers; Intel still will not say whether the plant is running. ## Sources 1. [Ynet, "New hazmat scare at Intel plant just days after deadly explosion", 19 October 2026](https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rypgmdmhze) 2. [CTech (Calcalist), "Intel plant reports suspected gas leak less than a week after fatal explosion", 19 October 2026](https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/8cjb8910x) 3. [CTech (Calcalist), "Two dead after explosion at Intel's Kiryat Gat facility", 15 October 2026](https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/ay5slvopq) 4. [Ynet, "Fire Department on Intel Hazmat Leak: 'No Danger to Area Residents'", 19 October 2026](https://www.ynetnews.com/article/jt17pfl24) 5. [CoinCentral, "Intel (INTC) Stock Jumps Pre-Market After JPMorgan Upgrade Despite Friday Drop", 19 October 2026](https://coincentral.com/intel-intc-stock-jumps-pre-market-after-jpmorgan-upgrade-despite-friday-drop/) 6. [TipRanks, "Why Intel Stock (INTC) Is Rising Over 4% in Pre-Market Following J.P. Morgan Upgrade", 19 October 2026](https://www.tipranks.com/news/j-p-morgans-take-on-intel) 7. [KuCoin News (TheCryptoBasic), "Intel Stock Rises 4% as JPMorgan Upgrades from Underweight to Neutral", 19 October 2026](https://www.kucoin.com/news/flash/intel-stock-rises-4-as-jpmorgan-upgrades-from-underweight-to-neutral) 8. [DatacenterDynamics, "Two workers killed, third injured, in explosion at Intel's Kiryat Gat fab in Israel", 15 October 2026](https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/two-workers-killed-third-injured-in-explosion-at-intels-kiryat-gat-fab-in-israel/) 9. [DIGITIMES, "Intel silent on Israeli Fab 28 output after deadly blast, leaving CPU supply outlook unclear", 16 October 2026](https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20261016VL202/intel-cpu-israel-plant-loss.html) 10. [The Oregonian/OregonLive, "Intel factory accident kills two workers in Israel", 15 October 2026](https://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/2026/10/intel-accident-kills-two-workers-in-israel.html) --- JPMorgan lifted Intel while its Israeli fab leaked again, five days after the blast that killed two workers — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/jpmorgan-lifted-intel-while-its-israeli-fab-leaked-again-five-days-after-the-blast-that-killed-two-workers