AMD Shares Jump 8% After Record Quarter as Revenue Outlook Beats Estimates

AMD shares rose about 8% in after-hours trading on Tuesday after the chipmaker beat expectations and forecast about $17 billion in fourth-quarter revenue. Third-quarter sales rose 45% to $13.4 billion, led by processors and accelerators for data centres.

Original reporting by Adam Ujazdowski, published on 4 November 2026 in the Polish edition.

The report, released on 3 November, showed how quickly AMD’s sales mix is changing. Data Center revenue rose 97% year on year to $8.55 billion, nearly 64% of group sales. Gaming chip sales were weaker, and free cash flow fell from a year earlier.

AMD beats earnings and revenue estimates

Quarterly revenue reached $13.377 billion, up from $9.246 billion a year earlier and above market expectations of about $13.09 billion. Adjusted earnings rose 74% to $2.09 per share, exceeding the $1.95 forecast. Adjusted operating income grew 75% to $3.92 billion, outpacing sales growth. The resulting adjusted operating margin was about 29.3%, and adjusted gross margin reached 56%.

On a U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis, AMD reported net income of $2.43 billion and earnings of $1.46 per share. Non-GAAP adjustments include stock-based compensation and amortisation of acquisition-related intangible assets.

Data centres account for nearly two-thirds of sales

AMD’s growth depends heavily on two product lines. EPYC processors compete for server spending, while Instinct accelerators are used to train and run artificial intelligence models. Data Center revenue grew by more than $1.8 billion from the previous quarter, accounting for nearly all the group’s sequential sales growth. AMD’s performance is increasingly tied to spending by the biggest cloud providers and the pace at which new data centres come online.

Combined Client and Gaming revenue fell 8% to around $3.7 billion. Client sales rose 7% to about $2.95 billion, while Gaming revenue dropped 40% to $773 million. Embedded revenue, which includes chips for specialist devices and systems, rose 29% to roughly $1.11 billion.

AMD forecasts about $17 billion in fourth-quarter sales

Management expects about $17 billion in revenue in the final quarter of the year, plus or minus 3%, implying a range of $16.49 billion to $17.51 billion. The midpoint is about 4.7% above analysts’ consensus of $16.23 billion. It would represent growth of about 66% year on year and 27% from the third quarter. AMD expects an adjusted gross margin of about 55%, one percentage point below the third-quarter figure.

Reuters reported that AMD shares rose about 8% after the results came out. The move took place in Tuesday evening’s after-hours trading, ahead of Wednesday’s regular Wall Street session.

Helios is central to AMD’s challenge to Nvidia

AMD’s Helios system combines Instinct accelerators, EPYC processors, networking and software. AMD wants to supply more of the equipment that goes into data centres and compete for orders covering entire computing installations. A single Helios rack in a configuration developed with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) integrates 72 Instinct MI455X accelerators. Customers also weigh how quickly the chips communicate, how the system is cooled and how efficiently its software runs.

OpenAI, Microsoft, Meta, Anthropic and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure are among the companies using AMD technology or developing deployments. Large projects can generate orders over several years. Their overall scale includes equipment from other suppliers, and deliveries and payments are spread over time.

Software remains an important part of the competition with Nvidia. AMD is developing its ROCm platform, while Nvidia benefits from a large base of applications and tools built around CUDA. Customers will also weigh the cost of migrating applications, which tools are available and how long it takes to bring systems online.

Free cash flow falls as earnings rise

Free cash flow fell to $554 million from $1.53 billion a year earlier, equivalent to about 4% of quarterly revenue. Cash generation lagged the rise in reported and adjusted profits. Capital expenditure, inventory and the timing of customer payments can all affect how much cash AMD retains as it scales up deliveries. The next report will show whether AMD met its $17 billion revenue forecast and how larger shipments of AI infrastructure affected margins and cash flow.

Sources include AMD’s third-quarter 2026 results filing and Reuters.

This article is for information only and does not constitute investment advice.