By Asa Fitch
Advanced Micro Devices projected lower-than-expected revenue in the first quarter, citing weakness in some of its core markets even as sales of artificial-intelligence chips grow.
AMD expects around $5.4 billion of sales in the current quarter, the company said, up from $5.35 billion the same period last year but behind Wall Street forecasts, according to FactSet.
AMD’s stock fell 2% in after-hours trading. The shares have more than doubled over the past 12 months.
In addition to weaker sales of PC and videogaming chips, AMD said it was seeing a seasonal decline in sales of computer servers where its chips feature. That was being offset, however, by growing interest in the company’s chips for artificial intelligence calculations, AMD said.
AMD is the nearest rival to Nvidia in AI chips needed to create advanced systems like OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Booming investment in AI has been a bonanza Nvidia, which surpassed a valuation of $1 trillion last year ( AMD could soon ride the same wave ( as demand for Nvidia’s chips outstrips their supply and customers search for alternatives. Last year, chief executive Lisa Su said the company expected more than $2 billion of AI chip sales this year as it rolls out its latest offering, called the MI300.
In addition to its first-quarter forecast, AMD said sales for the fourth quarter were $6.17 billion, up 10% from the year-ago period. Profits also climbed to $667 million from $21 million in the prior year. Those figures came in ahead of Wall Street forecasts.