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.
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