AMD Shares Skyrocket 12% Following Intel’s Promising CPU Demand Forecast
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) shares experienced a dramatic surge of over 12% on Friday, setting new record highs above $340. This occurred despite the absence of any company-specific news. The rally was spurred on by Intel’s impressive earnings report, which disclosed an unanticipatedly robust demand for central processing units (CPUs) within the AI infrastructure.
Intel reported a first-quarter revenue of $13.6 billion, significantly surpassing the consensus estimate of $12.42 billion. The company also projected a second-quarter revenue ranging between $13.8 billion and $14.8 billion, in contrast to analyst estimates of $13.11 billion. Intel now anticipates double-digit server CPU unit growth in 2026, a considerable increase from the slight growth expected just six months prior.
Following these revelations, Wall Street analysts promptly revised their outlook for AMD. D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria upgraded the stock to a “buy” status and elevated his price target to $375 from his previous estimate. “The CPU is reasserting itself as an indispensable foundation of the AI era,” Luria stated in a research note. Stifel also independently increased its AMD price target to $320, citing the strong AI-driven chip demand and AMD’s expanding data center portfolio as key factors.
The surge in AMD’s stock price is indicative of growing investor confidence that the AI boom is generating demand beyond graphics processing units (GPUs), thereby benefiting the broader semiconductor ecosystem. AMD is slated to report its first-quarter 2026 earnings on May 5.
Source: CNBC