Semiconductor stocks took a hit this week. The selling began with Broadcom, whose latest quarterly report lacked the wow factor investors had hoped for. That was enough to pull much of the group lower, from Nvidia on down, after a stretch in which chip stocks had run to record highs.
Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) got swept up in the downdraft, slipping from the all-time high it set in early June. There was no company-specific news behind the move; the stock simply traded down with its peers. So, for investors eyeing the pullback, the question is whether this is a chance to buy one of the better-positioned artificial intelligence (AI) names or a falling knife best left alone.
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a “Double Down” signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same “Total Conviction” signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »
A business hitting its stride
The case for buying starts with how well AMD is executing. In the first quarter of 2026, the chipmaker’s revenue rose 38% year over year to $10.3 billion — an acceleration from 34% growth in the fourth quarter of 2025. Driving it was the data center segment, where revenue jumped 57% to $5.8 billion — an acceleration from the 39% growth this business posted just a quarter earlier. That segment notably now accounts for more than half of AMD’s revenue and has become the company’s main engine.
“These results mark a clear inflection in our growth trajectory and a structural shift in our business,” said CEO Lisa Su during the company’s first-quarter earnings call.
And the momentum may build from here. AMD guided for current-quarter revenue of about $11.2 billion, implying approximately 46% year-over-year growth. And the bigger opportunity sits further out. The company’s next-generation Instinct MI450 accelerators and its Helios rack systems are set to begin ramping in the second half of the year. Additionally, Meta Platforms has agreed to deploy up to 6 gigawatts of AMD Instinct GPUs, with the first wave built on custom MI450 silicon — a commitment that could keep the data center business growing quickly well into 2027.
Why some caution makes sense
But the group’s sell-off is a reminder of how much optimism is already priced in. The stocks that fell hardest this week were the ones that had climbed the most — Micron recently crossed $1 trillion in market value for the first time, and Marvell had surged after a high-profile endorsement from Nvidia’s CEO. Also affecting growth stocks, a solid May jobs report added pressure by lowering the odds of interest rate cuts.
