AMD reported Q3 results that were ahead of expectations. While adjusted earnings stood at $0.92 per share, revenues expanded 18% year-over-year to $6.82 billion. The company’s data center segment fared well, with revenues surging 122% year-over-year, to a record $3.55 billion led by higher shipments of GPUs such as the Instinct MI300.
Following the launch of OpenAI's generative AI tool ChatGPT, major tech players have been doubling down on the artificial intelligence space. This has turned attention back to companies that make graphics processing units which are becoming the de-facto chips for running AI-related workloads. AMD recently unveiled the MI300X chip which is targeted specifically at large language model training and inference for generative AI workloads.
Below are key drivers of AMD's value that present opportunities for upside or downside to the current Trefis price estimate for AMD:
For additional details, select a driver above or select a division from the interactive Trefis split for AMD at the top of the page.
AMD manufactures and markets microprocessors used in servers, desktop PCs, and notebook PCs. Microprocessors are a PC's Central Processing Unit (CPU) or the "brain" behind the computer. A microprocessor is the single most important component that drives computer power and performance. Additionally, AMD manufactures Graphics Processor Units (GPUs), which are used in PCs to process information for graphics displays.
AMD also manufactures embedded processors used in products that require high-to-moderate levels of performance, where key features include low cost, mobility, low power, and small form factor. The company also makes System-on-Chip (SoC) products and technology for game consoles.
We believe that 'Enterprise, Embedded and Semi-Custom', and Computing & Graphics divisions are the two key segments within AMD for the following reasons:
In order to reduce its exposure to the declining traditional PC market, AMD intends to derive an increasing proportion of its revenue from high-growth markets, including semi-custom, ultra-low power clients, professional graphics, dense servers, and embedded solutions.
AMD believes that it is effectively positioned to drive the next revolution in gaming and now powers all major next-generation consoles including Nintendo Switch, Sony's PlayStation, and Microsoft's Xbox One.
AMD has introduced its future roadmap for the fast-growing embedded computing market. In addition to the new improved x86 processors, the company unveiled its first ARM-technology-based processor, extending its ambidextrous strategy to embedded markets. It is now the first company to offer its customers both ARM and x86 architecture-based solutions for low-power and high-performance embedded computing designs.
Graphics processing units, or GPUs, are becoming the de-facto chips for running generative AI workloads, and AMD has been a long-standing player in this space. While AMD's GPUs have typically been used more for gaming and professional applications compared to Nvidia's chips, which are the go-to GPUs for accelerated computing applications, AMD is also now focusing on winning over the AI market.
AMD has been making solid progress in the server market with its EPYC Server Processors, which are finding favor with customers, due to their strong performance, scalability, and value pricing.
Server virtualization is essentially server consolidation that enables the running of multiple applications on a single server instead of on multiple servers. Server virtualization is driving a mixed shift to higher-end servers, which requires multi-core processor servers that tend to be more complex and more expensive than traditional single-core processors.
AMD and Intel have moved away from the idea of integrated graphics. The newer chips pack GPU within the CPU leading to much better graphics performance than one can get from traditional integrated graphics.
This remains a key area that is not yet reasonably explored by both Intel and AMD.
IoT includes all other computing devices apart from PCs, tablets, and smartphones. IoT is still at a nascent stage, but it is expanding fast and is considered to be the next big growth driver in the semiconductor industry, after smartphones and tablets.
