On Tuesday, shares of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) fell sharply in after-hours trading despite beating second-quarter expectations, as analysts said investors had been looking for a more dramatic AI-driven outlook tied to the company’s Helios platform.
AMD Analysts Say Wall Street Wanted a Bigger Helios Forecast
Futurum Group CEO Daniel Newman said AMD’s results were solid, but the market had been expecting a stronger forecast driven by Helios, the company’s upcoming rack-scale AI platform.
"AMD earnings were good," Newman wrote on X. "Market wanted a blowout guide driven by Helios." He added that AMD has historically taken a conservative approach, even when it has visibility into future growth.
$AMD earnings were good. Market wanted a blowout guide driven by Helios. That is not how AMD operates, even if it has line of sight. Conservative be thy name. 😐
— Daniel Newman (@danielnewmanUV) August 4, 2026
Patrick Moorhead, founder and chief analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, cautioned investors against drawing conclusions before reviewing AMD’s full earnings call and question-and-answer session.
Moorhead noted that AMD’s data center business doubled year over year during the second quarter, while Helios had not yet begun contributing meaningfully.
He said Helios shipments are starting now, with volumes expected to ramp in the fourth quarter.
$AMD wasn't going to impress the after-hours crowd who want double-digit concensus beats. Keep in mind that the datacenter doubled in Q2 YoY and Helios hadn't shipped. Helios starts shipping now and volumes ramp in Q4. I would advise everybody to wait for the call and Q&A before… https://t.co/srtD2h1nhH
— Patrick Moorhead (@PatrickMoorhead) August 4, 2026
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Rising CapEx Draws Investor Attention
AMD spent $808 million on capital expenditures during the quarter, up from $282 million a year earlier and $389 million in the first quarter.
Futurum Equities chief market strategist Shay Boloor said the spending supports AMD’s expanding AI ambitions, including its EPYC server processors and Helios systems.
"AMD delivered a strong quarter into an almost perfect bar but the market fixated on capex more than doubling from $389M to $808M," he wrote.
Boloor said the higher investment could weigh on near-term sentiment but may be necessary for AMD to build enough capacity to pursue the rapid growth it expects in the server market.
$AMD delivered a strong quarter into an almost perfect bar but the market fixated on capex more than doubling from $389M to $808M.
— Shay Boloor (@StockSavvyShay) August 5, 2026
That spending supports two AI engines at once because agentic systems need EPYC CPUs to retrieve data, call tools and coordinate workloads while… pic.twitter.com/LR8eInibZ4
AMD Beats Q2 Revenue and Earnings Estimates
AMD reported second-quarter revenue of $11.54 billion, exceeding Wall Street’s estimate of $11.28 billion. Adjusted earnings came in at $1.66 per share, above analysts’ expectations of $1.61 per share.
The chipmaker also issued a stronger-than-expected outlook for the third quarter, forecasting revenue of approximately $13 billion, plus or minus $300 million.
Analysts had projected revenue of about $12.52 billion. AMD expects adjusted gross margin of approximately 56%, in line with its second-quarter level.
Price Action: AMD shares closed Tuesday up 7% at $518.58 and fell 8.8% to $472.94 in after-hours trading, according to Benzinga Pro.
Benzinga Edge Rankings place AMD in the 98th percentile for Momentum. While the stock is currently trending lower in the short term, its medium- and long-term price trends remain positive.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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