The chip sector outperformed the S&P 500 on Friday to a degree not seen in over a year, as artificial-intelligence mania kicked into a new gear.
Confirming a prominent perch of its own in the artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor space, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is up more than 90% this year and has more than quadrupled in value over of the past year. As the company's latest quarterly earnings update confirms, AI compute demand is through the roof.
The question for retirement-focused investors weighing Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD | AMD Price Prediction) against NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) is no longer abstract: which AI chip story belongs in a long-duration portfolio right now?
Shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) surged sharply on Friday, rebounding from losses in the previous session. At the time of writing, the stock was up around 7% to trade at $436.
The artificial intelligence surge is often attributed to GPUs.
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. remains a Buy, with robust AI-driven CPU and data center growth supporting further upside despite recent stock highs. AMD's Data Center segment, fueled by EPYC CPUs and Instinct GPUs, delivered 57% YoY growth and rising margins, outpacing Intel in market share gains. The shift to agentic AI workloads is expected to drive a 5x CPU market expansion by 2030, with AMD's next-gen CPUs well-positioned for multitasking and pricing power.
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. demonstrated solid Q1 revenue performance, reflecting resilience across its core business segments. Segment analysis reveals differentiated growth drivers, with notable contributions from both data center and client segments. AMD's cash flow statement highlights robust liquidity and disciplined capital allocation, supporting ongoing investment and shareholder returns.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) delivered Q1 revenue of $10.25B (+38% YoY) and adjusted EPS of $1.37 (+42.7% YoY), both beating consensus. AMD's Data Center segment surged 57% YoY, with operating margins expanding to 28%, driving significant operating leverage and free cash flow growth. Management guided Q2 revenue to $11.2B (+46% YoY), and raised server CPU TAM growth forecast to 35%+ annually, underpinning bullish multi-year growth.
The first wave of the AI boom rewarded the most obvious names. The next wave spreads wealth across the entire infrastructure stack: foundries, custom silicon, networking fabric, and enterprise deployment tools.
Hyperscalers are committing hundreds of billions to AI infrastructure, putting the semiconductor market on track to approach $1.6 trillion by 2030. AMD's Q1 revenue jumped nearly 38% on surging data center demand, but its rich valuation has knocked the stock down to a Quant "Hold" rating. By leveraging Seeking Alpha's screeners, SA Quant has identified two compelling chip opportunities with similar growth and better valuations.
Q1 earnings: fantastic (but with a caveat)
Investors applauded AMD's strong Q1 report yesterday evening, with shares spiking over 20% in Wednesday morning's trading session to a new all-time high of $430.