Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD), the second-biggest maker of computer processors, on Tuesday gave a lukewarm revenue forecast for the current period, weighed down by lackluster demand for chips used in video game hardware.
Second-quarter revenue would be approximately US$5.7 billion, the company said in a statement.
That compares with an average analyst estimate of US$5.72 billion.
Photo: Bloomberg
AMD said that its gross margin would be about 53 percent in the second quarter, matching predictions.
Revenue from AMD’s gaming division fell well short of projections in the first quarter, but the company is expecting to get a boost from a push into artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators — Nvidia Corp-style chips that help develop chatbots and other AI tools.
The company has projected that its new MI300 products would generate as much as US$3.5 billion of revenue this year.
“This is an incredibly exciting time for the industry as widespread deployment of AI is driving demand for significantly more compute across a broad range of markets,” AMD chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) said in the statement.
The AMD report follows a downbeat forecast last week from Intel Corp, which said it expects demand to remain sluggish in the first half of the year, but AMD is still expecting growth in the range of 6 percent in the current quarter, better than the roughly flat projection of its larger rival.
First-quarter earnings per share were US$0.62, excluding some items, on revenue of US$5.47 billion. That performance compared with estimated earnings per share of US$0.61 and US$5.45 billion in sales.
AMD’s PC chip division had revenue of about US$1.4 billion, compared with a US$1.29 billion estimate.
Data center sales came in at US$2.3 billion, in line with the average projection.
Meanwhile, gaming computer-related revenue was US$922 million. Analysts had expected sales of US$965.5 million.
Like Intel, AMD still gets most of its revenue from PC and server microprocessors. The once-solid server market has been less reliable because operators of data centers have plowed much of their budgets into Nvidia chips — the very area AMD is now making its own play for.
AMD also competes with Nvidia in the market for graphics processors that improve the images in video games. It is the biggest rival of Intel in both server and PC processors — as well as in programmable logic chips, which can be reconfigured with software after they are installed, and it supplies Microsoft Corp and Sony Group Corp with the main component in their game consoles.
Separately, Super Micro Computer Inc also on Tuesday reported quarterly sales that fell slightly short of estimates. The results disappointed investors who had sky-high expectations that the server maker’s business would benefit from AI-related demand.
Revenue in the March quarter climbed to US$3.85 billion, the company said in a statement. That’s just below the consensus estimate of US$3.86 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Profit, excluding some items, was US$6.65 per share, ahead of the US$5.58 expected by Wall Street analysts.
A jump in demand for the equipment that powers artificial intelligence training and applications has helped drive sales at Super Micro, which makes data center servers. Growth rates at the San Jose, California-based company have climbed higher in recent quarters on the back of deals with large corporations and an improving supply of high-powered chips.
Chief executive officer Charles Liang (梁見後) said in a statement that the company should “continue gaining market share” as new products are released.
Revenue in the quarter ending in June will be US$5.1 billion to US$5.5 billion, the company said. Analysts, on average, projected US$4.73 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Profit, excluding some items, will be as much as US$8.42 per share, compared with an average estimate of US$6.97.
When an apartment comes up for rent in Germany’s big cities, hundreds of prospective tenants often queue down the street to view it, but the acute shortage of affordable housing is getting scant attention ahead of today’s snap general election. “Housing is one of the main problems for people, but nobody talks about it, nobody takes it seriously,” said Andreas Ibel, president of Build Europe, an association representing housing developers. Migration and the sluggish economy top the list of voters’ concerns, but analysts say housing policy fails to break through as returns on investment take time to register, making the
‘SILVER LINING’: Although the news caused TSMC to fall on the local market, an analyst said that as tariffs are not set to go into effect until April, there is still time for negotiations US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he would likely impose tariffs on semiconductor, automobile and pharmaceutical imports of about 25 percent, with an announcement coming as soon as April 2 in a move that would represent a dramatic widening of the US leader’s trade war. “I probably will tell you that on April 2, but it’ll be in the neighborhood of 25 percent,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club when asked about his plan for auto tariffs. Asked about similar levies on pharmaceutical drugs and semiconductors, the president said that “it’ll be 25 percent and higher, and it’ll
NOT TO WORRY: Some people are concerned funds might continue moving out of the country, but the central bank said financial account outflows are not unusual in Taiwan Taiwan’s outbound investments hit a new high last year due to investments made by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and other major manufacturers to boost global expansion, the central bank said on Thursday. The net increase in outbound investments last year reached a record US$21.05 billion, while the net increase in outbound investments by Taiwanese residents reached a record US$31.98 billion, central bank data showed. Chen Fei-wen (陳斐紋), deputy director of the central bank’s Department of Economic Research, said the increase was largely due to TSMC’s efforts to expand production in the US and Japan. Investments by Vanguard International
WARNING SHOT: The US president has threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on all imported vehicles, and similar or higher duties on pharmaceuticals and semiconductors US President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested that a trade deal with China was “possible” — a key target in the US leader’s tariffs policy. The US in 2020 had already agreed to “a great trade deal with China” and a new deal was “possible,” Trump said. Trump said he expected Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to visit the US, without giving a timeline for his trip. Trump also said that he was talking to China about TikTok, as the US seeks to broker a sale of the popular app owned by Chinese firm ByteDance Ltd (字節跳動). Trump last week said that he had