New York, Feb 19, 2026, 08:37 EST — Premarket
- Advanced Micro Devices dropped roughly 1.5% ahead of the bell, the stock trading just under $200.
- According to a filing, CFO Jean Hu unloaded close to 20,000 shares as part of a pre-arranged 10b5-1 plan.
- U.S. data due out later Thursday and Friday is on traders’ radar, with potential to sway rate expectations and tech shares.
Shares of Advanced Micro Devices slipped $2.99, down roughly 1.5%, in premarket action Thursday, edging closer to $200 before the U.S. session got underway.
AMD shares stay in focus, following a tough open to February. The chipmaker flagged a quarter-on-quarter revenue decline, renewing investor attention on its pace versus Nvidia in the race for data-center AI chips. (Reuters)
Risk appetite wobbled ahead of the open as investors weighed a weak patch for tech, fresh cues from the Federal Reserve, and another batch of economic numbers with the potential to jolt growth names. “A meaningful broadening appears to have emerged,” said Tom Nelson, Franklin Templeton’s head of market strategy, in a note. (Reuters)
CFO Jean Hu unloaded 19,956 AMD shares on Feb. 17, cashing out at weighted averages between roughly $196.78 and $205.12, according to a regulatory filing released Wednesday. The document notes these transactions followed a Rule 10b5-1 plan, the preset trading schedule used by insiders. (Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.)
AMD disclosed in a Feb. 17 8-K that its board has signed off on a one-time “CEO Value Creation Equity Award” for Chief Executive Lisa Su, pegged at $75 million and set for grant on March 15. The payout—anywhere from 0% up to 200% of that target—depends on how the stock performs through March 15, 2031, according to the filing. (Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.)
The company revealed annual cash bonuses for key execs like Su and Hu, noting those payouts are slated for March. According to the filing, the equity award is entirely performance-driven, hinging on stock-price targets—one tier pegged at $600, a level that surpasses AMD’s previous record high mentioned in the same document.
Competitive heat hasn’t let up. Nvidia just unveiled a multiyear agreement to provide Meta Platforms with millions of its AI chips—both current models and upcoming ones—even central processors that challenge Intel and AMD offerings. “The results look very promising,” Nvidia executive Ian Buck said about Meta’s initial work using the company’s forthcoming Vera CPUs. (Reuters)
AMD is rejecting chatter about setbacks for its upcoming rack-scale AI system. Anush Elangovan, corporate vice president in the company’s software arm, responded to speculation about MI455X delays with an X post, calling the report “still wrong” and emphasizing that AMD is “on target for 2H 2026,” according to Tom’s Hardware. (Tom’s Hardware)
The setup isn’t one-sided. Insider selling, including transactions executed via 10b5-1 plans, has a tendency to rattle short-term traders—especially when shares are already jittery on anything AI spending-related or fresh read-throughs off Nvidia.
Thursday’s regular session could hinge on whether AMD stays above that key $200 mark, a level traders are eyeing as new macro signals come in. U.S. weekly jobless claims drop later Thursday, with the personal consumption expenditures inflation report set for Friday, Feb. 20. Both are closely watched data points for interest-rate bets—something chip stocks like AMD tend to react to quickly.
