New York, May 11, 2026, 10:11 EDT
- Following AMD’s first-quarter results and a robust forecast for the second quarter, both Goldman Sachs and Bernstein bumped up their ratings on the chipmaker.
- Morgan Stanley bumped up its AMD target, yet stuck to a neutral rating—underscoring that questions about AI chip execution haven’t vanished, even with the rally.
- AMD slid 0.5% to $452.73 early Monday, pulling back from a session peak of $471.95.
Advanced Micro Devices picked up new backing from Wall Street after posting a better-than-anticipated first quarter. Both Goldman Sachs and Bernstein bumped AMD up, citing a brighter AI server demand picture that now extends AMD’s prospects past graphics chips and deeper into CPUs.
This shift is notable: the AI play is starting to stretch past GPUs — the graphics chips behind training and running large models. Now, server CPUs are showing up on analysts’ radar. These central processors do the heavy lifting on general computing, and as “agentic AI” software takes on more hands-off tasks, demand for compute is climbing throughout corporate tech stacks. Reuters
AMD slipped a bit Monday morning, with shares last seen at $452.73 and the company carrying a roughly $747 billion market cap. Nvidia picked up 1.0%, and Intel tacked on 1.8%. The chip stocks stayed in the spotlight after last week’s earnings-fueled surge.
AMD’s first-quarter revenue jumped 38% year-over-year to $10.3 billion, with adjusted earnings coming in at $1.37 per share. The Data Center segment brought in $5.8 billion, a 57% climb, as demand for EPYC server chips and Instinct AI graphics lifted results, according to the company.
Lisa Su, the chief executive, called Data Center “the primary driver” behind AMD’s revenue and profit gains. For the second quarter, AMD projected revenue near $11.2 billion, give or take $300 million—topping Wall Street’s estimates, according to Reuters. AMD
Goldman upgraded AMD to Buy and more than doubled its price target to $450 from $240. Analyst James Schneider pointed to “agentic AI” demand, saying data-center GPUs could deliver more upside starting in 2027. Bernstein also upgraded AMD, moving to Outperform from Market-Perform, and hiked its target to $525, up from $265. Analyst Stacy Rasgon called AMD’s bigger server-market outlook “looking potentially plausible.” Investing
Morgan Stanley took a more cautious approach. The broker bumped its AMD price target to $410 from $360, TheStreet reported, and stuck with its Equal-weight rating. Analysts there flagged better prospects for server CPU growth, but said they want to see AMD’s upcoming rack-scale AI platform secure major clients before getting more bullish.
The risk is clear: AMD’s AI accelerator sales dipped in the first quarter, TheStreet noted, with China demand falling off. Morgan Stanley is also taking a wait-and-see stance on the MI450 rack-scale rollout, which isn’t expected until the back half of 2026. Over at Reuters, memory-chip shortages and pricier components could put a dent in PC and gaming markets later this year.
The landscape keeps shifting. According to Reuters, AMD has emerged as Nvidia’s top rival in the AI chip race, with Intel and Arm also benefiting from the increased appetite for AI CPUs. “The pie has grown,” JonesTrading strategist Michael O’Rourke noted, suggesting there’s space now for multiple winners. Reuters
Morgan Stanley hiked its price targets on IonQ, Microchip Technology, and GlobalFoundries, according to a Glonghui note relayed by Bitget. The firm sees the semiconductor rally moving beyond just AI, pointing instead to a rebound in classic chip demand alongside the AI story.
The question for AMD is if it can convert this analyst reset into real orders, supply, and margin. Bulls get new figures from its second-quarter outlook, but judging by the share price, a lot of this is in the market already.
