To The Moon

Advanced Micro Devices dips even as analysts call out 'impressive results'

Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) $AMD(AMD)$shares fell on Wednesday after the semiconductor offered third-quarter guidance that fell below Wall Street estimates, but several analysts praised the company's results nonetheless.

Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore, who has an overweight rating on AMD (AMD) shares and a $102 price target, called the figures and outlook "impressive," citing the current environment.

"We continue to like the opportunity here, though we can understand some disappointment," Moore wrote in a note to clients, adding that the "decelerating momentum" was obvious and "mostly discounted."

"We don't think this story is riskless going forward, and we continue to be modestly below consensus for [fourth-quarter] and 2023, but nothing in semiconductors feels riskless right now, and AMD continues to trade at a sharp discount to other growth names," Moore added.

AMD (AMD) shares fell almost 6% in premarket trading to $93.52.

Moore also noted that AMD (AMD) continued to grow its client CPU business from the first-quarter, something that is "fairly remarkable" given Intel's (NASDAQ:INTC) recent results, which Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger called "below standard."

And Moore believes that AMD (AMD) is likely to continue benefiting from Intel's (INTC) "numerous delays," despite the tough market conditions, citing server momentum and the CPU market.

"We continue to like the stock, as share gain opportunities will help stabilize inventory digestion in consumer end-markets," the analyst wrote, adding that strong growth in data center should help offset the weakness seen in the PC and GPU markets.

Wells Fargo analyst Aaron Rakers noted that AMD's (AMD) second-quarter results suggest that the company now has roughly mid-20% of the server market, including mid-to-high 30% of the hyperscale cloud market and is likely to see "continued share gains in traditional enterprise OEMs."

"As we move forward, we believe investors could continue to consider AMD's forthcoming Zen 4 5nm 96-core Genoa EPYC CPU launch as representing a portfolio expansion vs. pure replacement of the company's continuing to ramp 7nm Milan EPYC CPU product cycle," Rakers wrote.

Truist analyst William Stein, who has a hold rating on AMD (AMD) shares, noted that Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) is still seen as a better bet for its "consistent growth opportunity," but AMD (AMD) is gaining share, even if both Nvidia and Intel (INTC) offer some long-term challenges.

@CaptainTiger