Why AMD's new $1 trillion valuation makes perfect sense
Brian Sozzi · Executive Editor
Tue, September 22, 2026 at 12:34 PM GMT+3 3 min read
AMD (AMD) CEO Lisu Su has been crushing it at a chip company that almost went bust when she walked in the door as a top executive in 2012.
Since assuming the CEO position in 2014, Su — with her trademark humbleness and love for tech — has completely transformed the company into industry leader Nvidia's (NVDA) strongest rival. She has closed major deals, from the acquisition of Xilinx to a partnership with Meta (META) that could see the social media outfit own up to 10% of the company in the future.
While AMD's stock has sizzled under Su, it appears this is the year the market is truly giving her her due.
AMD's market cap crossed the $1 trillion mark for the first time on Monday, with shares surging 9.9% amid a broader tech-stock rally. The stock is up an impressive 185% year to date, easily surpassing the 22% gain for rival Nvidia.
The chipmaker has had win after win this year fueling its stock price.
AMD beat Wall Street expectations across the board for the second quarter earlier this month, posting record non-GAAP earnings per share of $1.66 versus consensus estimates of $1.61. Total revenue surged 50% year over year to a record $11.5 billion, clearing analyst projections of approximately $11.34 billion.
The strong top- and bottom-line performance was fueled by the company's Data Center segment. Revenue more than doubled year over year to $6.7 billion behind robust demand for EPYC server CPUs and Instinct AI accelerators.
AMD projected second-half 2026 server CPU revenue to grow 80% year over year and 70% in 2027. It expects data center revenues to more than double in 2027, with AI graphics processing units (GPUs) growing well over 100%.
AMD also unveiled its next-generation AI chips, headlined by the Instinct MI450 Series GPUs and the 6th Gen EPYC Venice CPUs. The new chips are designed to power AMD's new Helios rack-scale AI systems, which combine GPUs, CPUs, networking, and software into an integrated platform for training and running large AI models.
The product announcement came alongside two important new deals.
AMD said Microsoft (MSFT) will deploy Helios across Azure AI services beginning in the second half of 2026.
It also announced a major tie-up with Anthropic (ANTH.PVT) that significantly expands its push to challenge Nvidia in the AI infrastructure market.
Anthropic plans to deploy up to 2 gigawatts of the Instinct MI450 GPUs in its Helios system beginning in the first half of 2027 — a deal that could be worth tens of billions of dollars over time. AMD also committed to invest up to $5 billion in Anthropic, marking one of the chipmaker's largest strategic investments ever.
Demand for AI chips is exceptionally strong, Su told Yahoo Finance in a late-July interview.
"We're seeing the returns on investment," Su said. "Demand for compute is at a premium today. … We are very confident in the demand picture being there."
Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor, host of the 'Power Players With Brian Sozzi' podcast and a member of Yahoo Finance's editorial leadership team. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Tips on stories? Email brian.sozzi@yahoofinance.com.
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