Key Takeaways
- AMD shares jumped 107.1% over the past year, topping NVIDIA’s gains as AI demand boosts interest in chips.
- AMD’s Instinct accelerators are attracting customers like OpenAI, IBM, Oracle and Cisco for AI deployments.
- AMD expects Q4 2025 revenues near $9.6B, implying 25% year-over-year growth from its expanding AI business.
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD Quick QuoteAMD – Free Report) has surged 107.1% over the past year and easily outpaced rival NVIDIA Corporation’s (NVDA Quick QuoteNVDA – Free Report) gains of 63.8%. With both companies competing in the chip market, investors are left asking: can AMD continue its winning streak, and is it a good time to buy the stock?
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Let’s find out –
AMD: The AI Challenger Ready to Outgrow NVIDIA
AMD may not match NVIDIA in market capitalization anytime soon, but its strong growth prospects give it plenty of room to catch up and possibly outpace NVIDIA in growth.
Although AMD entered the artificial intelligence (AI) market later than its larger peers, it has rapidly closed the gap by offering advanced, competitively priced products relative to NVIDIA’s offerings. When soaring demand made NVIDIA’s Blackwell chips pricey, several customers, including OpenAI, began adopting AMD’s Instinct AI accelerators as an alternative to fulfill their needs.
AMD’s chips are increasingly seen as a viable alternative to NVIDIA’s, with major industry players like International Business Machines Corporation (IBM Quick QuoteIBM – Free Report) using them to advance their quantum computing initiatives. Several other companies are also increasing their faith in AMD’s products, with Oracle Corporation (ORCL Quick QuoteORCL – Free Report) and AMD launching the first AI supercluster with 50,000 AMD graphics on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. Similarly, Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO Quick QuoteCSCO – Free Report) and AMD are expanding AI cluster deployments with G42 in the UAE.
Although AMD’s ROCm software hasn’t reached the popularity of NVIDIA’s CUDA, a recent spike in downloads reaffirms that AMD’s chips are emerging as viable alternatives, poised for growth. Additionally, AMD’s smaller market size compared to NVIDIA gives it ample room to capture growth in the rapidly expanding AI market. So, by securing a few new customers, as it has been doing, AMD’s growth rate can outpace NVIDIA’s by a wide margin.
Unlike NVIDIA, AMD’s business is better insulated from a possible AI bubble, as a large chunk of its revenues comes from gaming rather than solely from data centers, lowering its downside risk.
Why AMD Is a Compelling AI Buy Right Now
AMD’s late but rapid AI push, competitive pricing and a diversified business position it to outpace NVIDIA and make it an attractive investment. Management is also optimistic about AMD’s financial outlook, with fourth-quarter 2025 revenues expected to be around $9.6 billion, plus or minus $300 million, according to ir.amd.com. At the mid-point, this forecast implies 25% year-over-year growth and a 4% sequential gain.
Brokers too remain bullish on AMD’s growth, estimating an average short-term price target for AMD stock at $286.49, a 13.6% increase from the last closing price of $252.18. The highest target is $380, suggesting a potential upside of 50.7%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
AMD, currently, has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here.