Not all that long ago, the prospect of chip giant Intel breaking up would have been unthinkable. But Intel’s foundry business has lost billions in recent years and Pat Gelsinger, the CEO who championed Intel’s beleaguered foundry,

Intel stock rose Tuesday as speculation mounts about deals to acquire different parts of the chip company. However, there are major hurdles for a reported potential split of the company’s operations between Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and Broadcom.