AMD forecasts upbeat revenue on AI data-center demand, beats quarterly estimates

AMD forecasts quarterly revenue above Wall Street estimates, driven by strong demand for its chips in massive data-center expansions to power AI technologies.

AMD forecast quarterly revenue above Wall Street estimates on ​Tuesday, banking on strong demand for its ​chips from massive data-center capacity ‌expansions to power ​AI technologies. The company is regarded as chip giant Nvidia's closest rival in the market for graphics processing units, as major technology companies ‌and governments worldwide ramp up spending on AI infrastructure.

AMD has stepped up its AI product launches and moved beyond selling individual chips to offering AI systems that combine processors, networking gear and related hardware, ‌giving customers an integrated AI infrastructure option and allowing it to better rival Nvidia's rack-scale offerings. The company ‌expects third-quarter revenue of about $13 billion, plus or minus $300 million, while analysts estimate $12.52 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Adjusted gross margin is expected to be about 56%, largely in line with the estimate. While GPUs dominate heavy ⁠AI training, ​AMD is also benefiting from ⁠growing demand for central processing units, which are used alongside pricey graphics processors in servers. This has helped AMD capture ⁠market share from Intel.

Supply, however, is constrained by AMD's reliance on TSMC , the world's largest contract ​chipmaker, where tight advanced packaging capacity continues to be a key hurdle. The forecast suggests that ⁠AMD's multi-billion dollar investments to challenge chip giant Nvidia's dominance in the market for AI chips are beginning to pay ⁠off, ​with sales of its data-center processors accelerating sharply.

Second-quarter revenue rose 50% to $11.54 billion, beating the estimate of $11.28 billion. Data-center revenue more than doubled to $6.72 billion, also exceeding expectations of $6.48 billion. Adjusted profit came in ⁠at $1.66 per share, ahead of the estimated $1.62.

At AMD's AI event in July, CEO Lisa Su said ⁠the company's second-generation Helios ⁠AI servers, featuring the MI455X AI accelerator and "Venice" processor made by TSMC, are in full production and would begin shipping in the coming months.