To The Moon

US companies have recently announced their financial results, and $AMD.US has just announced its third quarter results, so here are some highlights. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is a global company that specializes in manufacturing semiconductor devices used in computer processing. The company also manufactures flash memory, graphics processors, motherboard chipsets, and a variety of components used in consumer electronics products. AMD is also the only company in the world with expertise in both high-performance computing and high-performance graphics technologies and in combining them into custom solutions.

Latest Quarterly Results Highlights

Revenue was $5,565 million, up 29 percent from $4,313 million in the prior year quarter, and GAAP net income was $66 million, down 93 percent from $923 million in the prior year quarter. On a non-GAAP basis, AMD reported third quarter adjusted net income of $1.095 billion, up 23 percent from $893 million in the prior year quarter. According to the official statement, the difference in profit was mainly due to the amortization of assets and increased investment in R&D as a result of the acquisition of Ceres. So I think AMD's results are actually acceptable, I just don't think they are growing as much as the market would like.

Key Business Segments

Data Center revenue for the third quarter was $1,609 million, up 45 percent from $2,398 million in the same quarter last year, and operating profit was $505 million, compared with $308 million in the same quarter last year, with an operating margin of 31 percent, compared with 28 percent in the same quarter last year.

Client segment revenue for the third quarter was $1,022 million, down 40 percent from $1,692 million in the same quarter last year, with an operating loss of $26 million compared to an operating profit of $490 million in the same quarter last year.

Operating profit was $142 million, compared to $231 million in the same quarter last year, and operating margin was 9%, compared to 16% in the same quarter last year.

The Embedded Products segment reported revenue of $1,303 million, up 1,549 percent from $79 million in the same period last year, and operating profit of $635 million, compared with $23 million in the same period last year, with an operating margin of 49 percent, compared with 30 percent in the same period last year.

Operating loss for all other divisions was $1.320 billion compared to an operating loss of $104 million in the same period last year.

I think AMD management is a bit optimistic about their next earnings guidance, but maybe they are really confident in what they are saying, otherwise their integrity will need to be questioned in the future. Non-GAAP gross margin is expected to be about 51%. For the full year, AMD forecasts revenue of approximately $23.2-23.8 billion, up approximately 43% year-over-year, primarily focused on growth in the embedded and data center segments, and AMD expects non-GAAP gross margins of approximately 52% in 2022.

I think global semiconductor and PC sales have already been hit by high inflation leading to lower disposable revenue, and I think that will continue to impact AMD in the next four quarters as well, and in terms of PCs, all but the Apple brand are currently down year-over-year (Figure 1). Then, with the current PC inventory still at a relatively high point, I suggest that for those who want to buy computers, they may wait until the middle of next year, when a round of price cuts may be launched to clear or reduce old inventory (Figure 2). According to my observation, it has already started, but I think it may further deteriorate.