NEW YORK, May 10, 2026, 09:03 EDT
- AMD’s post-earnings rally faces a fresh test after a report that Intel reached a preliminary chip-making deal with Apple.
- Intel’s foundry push could change how investors price the AMD-versus-Intel fight in AI servers and U.S. chipmaking.
- AMD still has stronger Wall Street support, but its valuation leaves less room for misses.
Advanced Micro Devices’ sharp rally has run into a new Intel problem: investors now have to weigh AMD’s AI server momentum against a reported Apple manufacturing deal that could revive confidence in Intel’s foundry business, or contract chipmaking.
The timing matters. AMD just posted a strong quarter and lifted expectations for AI-driven server demand, while Intel surged Friday after the Wall Street Journal reported a preliminary deal for Intel to make some chips for Apple devices. U.S. markets were closed Sunday morning, leaving traders to position for the next test when trading resumes. AMD last traded at $455.19, up 11.4%, while Intel ended at $124.92, up 13.9%.
The reported Apple-Intel deal, not yet confirmed by either company, would give Intel a high-profile customer for its foundry operation and support Washington’s effort to bring more chip production into the United States. Intel and Apple declined to comment to Reuters, which said it remained unclear which Apple products Intel would supply.
AMD’s own story is still strong. The company said first-quarter revenue rose 38% to $10.3 billion, while data-center revenue climbed 57% to $5.8 billion on demand for EPYC server CPUs and Instinct graphics chips. Chief Executive Lisa Su called it an “outstanding first quarter” and pointed to “accelerating demand for AI infrastructure.” Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
The main issue is where AI spending goes next. Central processing units, or CPUs, are the main chips that run servers. Graphics processing units, or GPUs, speed the heavy calculations used in AI. AMD, Intel and Nvidia are all trying to capture more of the shift toward “agentic AI,” software that can perform tasks with limited human direction and needs large amounts of computing capacity.
Patrick Moorhead, chief executive and chief analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, said in a recap of his CNBC appearance that the market’s bullish response to AMD was “appropriate,” citing a clean earnings beat and AMD’s larger CPU opportunity. But he also flagged stiff competition from Nvidia, Intel and Arm in data-center chips. Moor Insights Strategy
That is the catch for AMD. Its server CPU share gains have benefited for years from Intel’s execution slips, but Intel’s Xeon recovery also signals tougher x86 competition, Summit Research wrote in a Seeking Alpha analysis. The firm said AMD’s MI400 Series and Helios platform, expected to ramp in the second half of 2026, could still mark a shift from CPU-led gains to a broader AI infrastructure story.
Lynx Equity took the other side. “We continue to prefer Intel over Advanced Micro Devices,” the firm said, according to TipRanks, arguing that the Apple report could ease doubts over Intel’s foundry survival. TipRanks also said AMD’s shares had surged about 42% over five days after its earnings beat, while Intel had climbed by a similar measure after its own results and the Apple report. TipRanks
Other analysts have become more constructive on AMD. Goldman Sachs upgraded AMD to Buy and raised its price target to $450 from $240, with analyst James Schneider citing “tailwinds to its server CPU business” from agentic AI. Bernstein also upgraded the stock to Outperform and lifted its target to $525, with analyst Stacy Rasgon saying AMD’s larger server market forecast looked “potentially plausible.” Investing
The competitive context is shifting fast. Nvidia remains the dominant supplier of AI GPUs, while Arm is pushing deeper into data-center designs and TSMC remains the manufacturing benchmark that Intel is trying to catch. For AMD, the question is whether it can turn strong CPU demand and a growing GPU pipeline into a durable challenge across AI infrastructure, not just a one-quarter beat.
Reuters reported Wednesday that AMD shares hit an all-time high after its forecast boosted confidence in AI infrastructure demand and helped lift the broader semiconductor sector. AMD now expects the server CPU market it can address to grow more than 35% annually through 2030, up from an earlier 18% forecast.
But the risk is plain. The Apple-Intel arrangement is still preliminary, the products are unknown, and any foundry revenue may take time because of process development and chip design work. AMD also carries a richer valuation after its rally, and any slip in supply, demand or execution could make investors less forgiving.
For now, AMD has the cleaner earnings story. Intel has the fresher catalyst. That split is likely to define the next round of the chip-stock trade: AMD must prove its AI server boom can widen, while Intel must show that a reported Apple win is more than a headline.
