Intel shares powered higher in early Thursday trading after the struggling chipmaker named industry veteran and former board member Lip-Bu Tan as its new CEO, sparking a fresh round of speculation on its plans to split into two separate companies.

Lip-Bu Tan is seen as a “transformative” leader who will move to cut costs. But both halves of Intel’s business require major fixes.

Key Takeaways Intel named Lip-Bu Tan its new CEO, effective March 18. Tan is the former CEO of Cadence Design Systems, a semiconductor software company that has partnered with Intel.The chipmaker had been searching for a permanent CEO since Pat Gelsinger's retirement late last year.