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After a litany of adverse developments that have continued to hurt its stock in recent weeks, Intel has finally received a rare piece of encouraging news courtesy of a secret program under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) that could play a key role in anchoring bearish sentiment around the struggling company.

Intel $INTC officially qualified for up to $3.5 billion in federal subsidies to make semiconductors for the 🇺🇸 Military – Bloomberg photo.twitter.com/zs1f1INlew

— Evan (@StockMKTNewz) September 13, 2024

Namely, according to the reporting Per Bloomberg, Intel has signed a binding agreement under the U.S. Department of Defense’s secretive “Secure Enclave” program that will see the chipmaker receive $3.5 billion in federal subsidies to encourage the manufacturing of advanced semiconductors for strategic defense needs.

Of course, this development comes as CHIPS Act grants, which are a major source of lucrative federal funding for Intel, appear to be in jeopardy. As we reported Intel is reportedly set to receive $8.5 billion in grants and $11 billion in loans under the CHIPS Act, contingent on establishing a qualified manufacturing footprint on U.S. soil as part of the Biden administration’s efforts to revive the chip industry. Intel, however, has reportedly failed to meet the Biden administration’s preliminary expectations, leading to protracted negotiations that have frustrated the struggling company.

Meanwhile, Intel is preparing to roll out a broad-based turnaround plan at its next board meeting, which reportedly includes plans to offload its majority stake in its FPGA arm Altera, institute a construction freeze at its $30 billion facility in Germany and a possible sale from its Foundry division to Qualcomm.

Additionally, to conserve cash, Intel cut its dividend and laid off 13.6% of its workforce (from around 110,000 at the beginning of the year). The company also cut its 2025 capital expenditures by 17% to just $21.5 billion.