Advanced Micro Devices reported its revenues and earnings for the second quarter ended June 30 exceeded expectations, with revenue growing 99% to $3.85 billion.
Non-GAAP net income for the quarter was $778 million, or 63 cents a share, beating expectations of 54 cents a share on a non-GAAP basis. AMD said it was increasing its annual earnings forecast.
The Santa Clara, California-based company has had a good run on momentum behind its Zen and Zen 2 architectures for processors, which can generate 50% or more better performance per clock cycle than the previous generation. This architecture put AMD ahead of Intel in performance for the first time in a decade, and it has helped the perennial No. 2 PC chip maker into a fast-growing contender against Intel.
Intel, meanwhile, has had stumbles not only on the chip design side but also in manufacturing, where it has lost its technological advantage to rivals such as TSMC, which makes both processors and graphics chips for AMD. As a result, AMD has been making historic market share gains for the past three years. What’s interesting is AMD has been making these gains amid a historic chip shortage driven by the supply whipsaw from the pandemic and unprecedented demand for electronic goods.
“Our business performed exceptionally well in the second quarter as revenue and operating margin doubled and profitability more than tripled year-over-year,” AMD CEO Lisa Su said in a statement. “We are growing significantly faster than the market with strong demand across all of our businesses. We now expect our 2021 annual revenue to grow by approximately 60% year-over-year driven by strong execution and increased customer preference for our leadership products.”
Intel, meanwhile, is doubling down on its manufacturing investments as a way to stay competitive and take advantage of the chip boom and supply shortage.
Quarterly financial segment summary
Computing and graphics segment revenue was $2.25 billion, up 65% year-over-year and 7% quarter-over-quarter driven by higher client and graphics processor sales. Client processor average selling price (ASP) grew year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter driven by a richer mix of Ryzen desktop and notebook processor sales. It was the fifth straight quarter of record processor revenue.
Graphics processing unit (GPU) ASP grew year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter driven by high-end graphics product sales, including datacenter GPU sales. Operating income was $526 million, compared to $200 million a year ago and $485 million in the prior quarter. The increases were primarily driven by higher revenue.
Enterprise, embedded, and semi-custom segment revenue was $1.6 billion, up 183% year-over-year and 19% quarter-over-quarter. The increases were driven by higher Epyc processor revenue and semi-custom product sales. The semi-custom products include processors for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S game consoles.
Optimistic Revenue Outlook on Strong Demand
AMD gave a bullish third-quarter sales forecast, indicating it’s gaining market share from Intel Corp. in the lucrative market for server chips.
AMD, the second-largest maker of computer processors behind Intel, predicted third-quarter revenue will be about $4.1 billion, plus or minus $100 million. On average, analysts had projected revenue of $3.8 billion. The company also raised its annual outlook and now expects revenue to increase by 60% up from a previous forecast for 50% growth.
Chief Executive Officer Lisa Su has brought the company back from the brink of irrelevance with a raft of new products that customers see as competitive with Intel’s offerings for the first time in years. Investors have poured money into AMD’s stock over the last five years, expecting Su’s changes to result in higher market share and earnings.
“We are growing significantly faster than the market with strong demand across all of our businesses,” Su said in a statement.
AMD’s earnings report Tuesday indicates the company is taking market share at Intel’s expense. Intel, the world’s largest superconductor manufacturer, reported a 6% decline in second-quarter revenue. AMD also competes with Nvidia Corp. in the market for graphics processors used in cards for gaming personal computers.
Su said the company can continue to grow, even if PC demand falls in 2022. “We expect our competition to be really good and we need to be better than that,” Su said during a conference call after the results.