• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
Tech

Why AMD’s Stock Jumped 14%

By
Aaron Pressman
Aaron Pressman
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Aaron Pressman
Aaron Pressman
Down Arrow Button Icon
July 26, 2018, 2:40 PM ET

The multi-year turnaround at chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices has been a bumpy affair from an investor point of view. CEO Lisa Su committed the company to focus on catching up to and even leapfrogging the performance of chips from rivals Intel (INTC) and Nvidia (NVDA) but it takes years to actually get that silicon out to customers.

On Wednesday, the rewards of Su’s AMD journey appeared a little clearer. Reporting after the market closed, AMD said revenue shot up 53% to $1.8 billion in the second quarter. Adjusted profit per share of 14 cents reversed a loss of 1 cent a share last year and was the highest in seven years. Investors rewarded Su by sending the company’s shares up 14% on Thursday to as much as $18.45, the highest price since the beginning of 2007. The stock was less than $2 a share as recently as February 2016.

The improvements came even as demand from digital currency miners for AMD’s graphics chips fell off, reassuring jittery analysts who had warned the second quarter might be troublesome. Sales of AMD’s new Epyc chip for servers and a second generation Ryzen chip for PCs introduced in April more than made up for some challenges in selling Vega graphics chips, which had been a hot commodity for cryptocurrency seekers until currency prices tumbled this year.

Su spent part of her call with analysts explaining that the upcoming chips coming at the end of this year and into 2019 would be even more competitive, as they move to a smaller scale 7-nanometer manufacturing process.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

“Several years ago, we made important decisions around our CPU and GPU roadmaps to drive leadership at the 7-nanometer node,” the CEO noted. “We now have line of sight to those products coming to market and we see incredible opportunities ahead based on the competitive positioning and customer interest in our upcoming 7-nanometer products.”

Several analysts heartily agreed. “We believe AMD may be at its best competitive position ever,” Angelo Zino, an analyst at CFRA Research, wrote in a report raising his price target on the stock to $20 from $16. Zino said he was “highly optimistic” about Epyc’s potential to grab marketshare in big data centers.

Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh also raised his target price to $20 from $17 and said he expects to see AMD (AMD) grabbing double-digit market share in servers by next year from almost nothing a year ago.

Still, there remain some doubters on Wall Street. Barclays analyst Blayne Curtis is sticking with $9 price target for AMD, saying he saw “no hard data points on customers or orders” for the Epyc chip. “The rubber is still not meeting the road,” he wrote.

And Stacy Rasgon at Bernstein Research rather grudgingly raised his price target to an already-exceeded $16. Rasgon wrote that he was “unconvinced” that the risk had passed from falling sales to cryptocurrency miners.

About the Author
By Aaron Pressman
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

AITech
Meta’s $27 billion AI data center is causing chaos in small town Louisiana
By Sharon GoldmanMarch 26, 2026
23 minutes ago
MagazineChina
The world’s consumers are ready for robotaxis. James Peng of Pony AI wants to make sure they’re riding in his
By Nicholas GordonMarch 26, 2026
23 minutes ago
lancaster
AIschools
Two private school boys get probation for using AI to create 350 fake nudes of their classmates
By Mark Scolforo and The Associated PressMarch 25, 2026
11 hours ago
melania
PoliticsWhite House
Enter Melania Trump, escorted by humanoid robot: ‘I’m Figure 03, a humanoid built for the United States of America’
By Darlene Superville and The Associated PressMarch 25, 2026
11 hours ago
bernie
AICongress
Bernie Sanders and AOC launch bill to ban new data-center construction
By Matthew Daly and The Associated PressMarch 25, 2026
11 hours ago
Big TechSocial Media
A court just ruled that tech addiction is real—and dangerous. It could be Meta and YouTube’s Big Tobacco moment
By Kristin StollerMarch 25, 2026
12 hours ago

Most Popular

Magazine
The youngest-ever female CEO of a Fortune 500 company is fighting Trump's cuts to keep Medicaid strong
By Fortune EditorsMarch 24, 2026
2 days ago
Success
Palantir’s billionaire CEO says only two kinds of people will succeed in the AI era: trade workers — ‘or you’re neurodivergent’
By Fortune EditorsMarch 24, 2026
2 days ago
Commentary
The Treasury just declared the U.S. insolvent. The media missed it
By Fortune EditorsMarch 23, 2026
3 days ago
Success
JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon says remote work breeds ‘rope-a-dope politics’ and stunts young workers’ growth
By Fortune EditorsMarch 25, 2026
16 hours ago
Success
The job market is so bad that ‘reverse recruiters’ are charging $1,500 a month just to help people look for jobs
By Fortune EditorsMarch 25, 2026
24 hours ago
C-Suite
'I didn’t want anybody shooting me': Five Guys CEO gave away $1.5 million bonus to employees over botched BOGO burger birthday celebration
By Fortune EditorsMarch 25, 2026
12 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.