AMD beat expectations with its third-quarter earnings, with revenue rising 36 percent year-over-year to $9.25 billion, a record for the quarter. In addition, Nvidia's closest AI chip competitor delivered a strong outlook for the fourth quarter. Still, the stock is heading into the red.
Revenue was $510 million higher than the numbers predicted by analysts. Adjusted earnings per share were $1.20, three cents more than Wall Street expected. Adjusted gross margin was 54 percent, the same as a year ago. As for the forecast for the last quarter of this year, AMD expects sales in the range of 9.3 to 9.9 billion dollars, while the market expected 9.21 billion USD. The outlook does not include revenue from shipments of Instinct MI308 chips to China, the company added. «We had an excellent quarter with record sales and profitability, reflecting broad demand for our high-performance EPYC and Ryzen processors and Instinct AI accelerators,» said Lisa Su, the company's CEO, in a statement. It added that the record revenue and strong outlook for the fourth quarter represent a clear step forward in the growth trajectory «as our expanding computing franchise and fast-growing data center AI business drive significant revenue and profit growth.» Data center revenue reached $4.3 billion, which was $200 million more than analysts' estimates showed. Last year, the company generated USD 3.5 billion from data centers. The client segment, which includes sales of chips for laptops and desktops, was also up: $2.9 billion, versus $2.6 billion expected. AMD's gaming division earned $1.3 billion, while the estimate was $1.1 billion. Despite the impressive economic numbers, however, AMD shares are down 2.5 percent in the aftermarket after an initial modest rise about half an hour after the results were released.