dpAMD (AMD) will report its second quarter earnings after the bell today as investors continue to navigate the choppiness across chip stocks.
After a massive run-up across the sector that saw the Philadelphia Semiconductor index (^SOX) jump more than 100% over the past year, chip stocks have paused since roughly mid-June, with the group dropping 20% as of Tuesday morning, according to AlphaSpace data.
AMD stock has climbed an impressive 190% over the past 12 months, thanks to the rise of AI agents. AI agents rely on central processing units (CPUs) to perform tasks for users, such as preparing spreadsheets or sending emails.
That has made CPUs, like those AMD produces, far more important to hyperscalers like Microsoft (MSFT) and other AI cloud companies.
However, that has also helped AMD rival Intel (INTC), which is up more than 340% in the same timeframe.
But AMD has a trick up its sleeve that Intel doesn’t.
Late last month, the company launched its Helios rack-scale platform for AI data centers. The system, which features 72 AMD MI455X graphics processing units (GPUs), as well as several of the company’s Instinct CPUs, is designed to go toe-to-toe with Nvidia’s (NVDA) own Blackwell and Rubin-based NVL72 rack-scale systems.
CEO Lisa Su isn’t shy about taking on Nvidia either. The two companies have competed in the gaming graphics card space for years.
According to Su, the Helios rack provides 15% better compute performance than Vera Rubin and offers 50% more high-bandwidth memory capacity. Helios, she added, also provides 30% more tokens per dollar than Nvidia’s servers.
Nvidia dominates the AI chip space, accounting for as much as 90% of market share in any given quarter. But even a small slice of that would be a boon for AMD.
For the quarter, AMD is expected to report earnings per share of $1.62 on revenue of $11.3 billion, according to Bloomberg analysts’ consensus estimates. The company saw EPS of $0.48 and revenue of $7.6 billion in the same quarter last year.
Data center growth is expected to top 100%, climbing to $6.5 billion, versus $3.2 billion in Q2 2025. AMD’s client segment is expected to generate $3 billion in sales, up 20%, while its gaming division is set to bring in $781 million, down 30%.
The PC industry is facing a downturn due to rising memory prices, which could affect AMD and Intel’s PC chip businesses in the coming months.
Email Daniel Howley at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @DanielHowley.
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