Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) shares moved higher Monday following a pair of analyst upgrades for the chipmaker following its mixed set of earnings data and the launch of its new data center product Genoa.
UBS analyst Timothy Arcuri lifted its rating on AMD to 'buy' from 'neutral', while boosting its price target by $25 to $95 per share, citing ongoing improvement in CPU shipments that could offset weakness in personal computing chips.
Robert W. Baird analyst Tristan Gerra, meanwhile, pegged AMD with a $100 price target and a 'buy' rating , noting the "strong reception" of the group's new data-center chip offering, Genoa, which launched earlier this month. CEO Lisa Su said Genoa will translate into "lower capex, lower opex and lower total cos of ownership" for enterprises and for cloud data centers.
AMD shares were marked 1.7% higher in early Monday trading, against a 0.7% decline for the Nasdaq Composite, to change hands at $73.58 each.
Earlier this month, AMD said non-GAAP earnings for the quarter came in at 67 cents per share, an 8% decline from the same period last year that missed Street forecasts by a penny. Group revenues, AMD said, rose 30% to $5.6 billion, essentially matching analysts' forecasts following the chipmaker's warning on broader market demand earlier this month, with gaming up 13.7% and data center rising 45%.
Looking into the final months of the year, however, AMD said it sees quarterly revenue in the region of $5.5 billion, plus or minus $300 million, with gross margins rising to around 51% on sequential growth for its embedded and data center units. Refinitv estimates were looking for a revenue forecast of around $5.85 billion.
