Trump Gave Intel $8.9 Billion. Now Taxpayers Are Buying IBM

Quick Read

• IBM (IBM) is receiving roughly $1 billion in Trump administration quantum computing funding and operates more than 100 quantum systems through its IBM Quantum Network, making it the preferred government-backed choice over pure-play quantum startups due to its $62.8 billion in 2025 revenue and $13 billion in free cash flow. Intel (INTC) saw its stock surge nearly 400% since receiving an $8.9 billion investment last August, transforming from a struggling chipmaker into America’s semiconductor champion in investor perception.

• The Trump administration is expanding government equity stakes in strategic industries—rare earths, semiconductors, and quantum computing—fundamentally blurring the line between government regulation and private capital allocation, which can distort management incentives when political priorities take precedence over shareholder returns.

• The analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 stocks and IBM wasn’t one of them. Get…