Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) quietly closed the week at $50.93. The computer chip supplier will post quarterly earnings reports this month and markets are already pricing in strong results. Now what? AMD may post tepid revenue numbers but bullish momentum is so strong. Markets may push the stock higher regardless of results.
AMD hired Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) talent on Jan. 17. It added Daniel McNamara as its SVP and GM of its server business. Previously, this executive worked at Intel as an SVP and GM of the network and custom logic group. AMD’s EPYC server processors have an architectural advantage over Intel’s solutions. Slowly but surely, customers are signing up cloud services that use AMD EPYC, instead of Intel Xeon chips. AMD’s server solution offers more bang for the buck, saving customers money.
Getting an Intel executive could be the start of an exodus from Intel’s ranks. Stronger leadership will accelerate AMD’s resurgence.
On Feb. 7, AMD launches a 64-core 128-thread Threadripper 3990X. AMD Ryzen 4000 "Renoir" APUs will have eight Zen 2 cores and 16 threads. The GPU (graphics) will have a new 7nm Vega. These APUs are of strategic importance for AMD winning market share in the notebook space. After nearly a decade of PC sales declines, this trend reversed in 2019. So, if consumers opt for Ryzen-powered laptops over Intel-powered ones, AMD stock will have bottomed at $50.
