AMD Earnings Beat Expectations Ignite AI Chip Rally, U.S. Tech Stocks Gain Momentum

On July 28, 2026, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) released its Q2 earnings, with both revenue and net profit exceeding market expectations. AI-related chip revenue surged 85% year-over-year, becoming the biggest highlight. Spurred by the news, AMD's after-hours stock price soared over 8%, driving NVIDIA, Intel and other semiconductor stocks higher in after-hours trading. The performance confirms the sustained explosion in AI computing demand and injects new upward momentum into U.S. tech stocks.

Key Earnings Data: AI Chips Drive Growth

According to the report, AMD achieved Q2 revenue of $6.89 billion, up 32% YoY, above analyst estimates of $6.52 billion; net profit of $1.23 billion, up 41% YoY; adjusted EPS of $0.92, beating the expected $0.85. By segment, Data Center revenue reached $3.87 billion, surging 67% YoY, with AI accelerator cards MI400 series contributing over $2 billion as the growth engine. Client Computing revenue was $1.52 billion, up 12% YoY, boosted by Ryzen 8000 series processor demand recovery. Gaming revenue was $0.81 billion, down 15% YoY, mainly due to lower game console chip shipments. Embedded revenue was $0.69 billion, up 5% YoY.

AMD CEO Lisa Su said on the earnings call: "AI is driving the most significant growth cycle in the company's history. Our MI400 chips are widely adopted for large language model training and inference, and we added several hyperscale customers this quarter, including Microsoft and Meta." She also revealed that the next-gen MI500 chip has successfully taped out and is expected to mass produce in early 2027, with performance more than doubling.

AI Chip Competitive Landscape: AMD Chases NVIDIA

Since 2023, the AI chip market has been nearly monopolized by NVIDIA, whose H100/B100 series once held over 90% market share. But AMD started to gain traction with MI300A/X series in 2024, growing its market share to about 15% in 2025. This quarter, MI400 series shipments grew 120% quarter-over-quarter, further narrowing the gap with NVIDIA. Additionally, AMD's ROCm software ecosystem has gradually improved, supporting mainstream frameworks like PyTorch and TensorFlow, reducing customer migration costs.

In contrast, NVIDIA has not yet reported Q2 earnings, but the market expects its AI chip revenue growth may slow to around 60% due to H100 inventory adjustments and B200 delays. Citigroup analysts noted: "AMD is catching up with a new product every year, while NVIDIA's 'one-iteration-per-year' strategy faces yield and capacity challenges. 2027 could be a turning point in the AI chip market landscape."

U.S. Tech Stocks Momentum Resumes

AMD's strong earnings boosted investor confidence in tech stocks. On July 28 after hours, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index futures rose 2.5%, NVIDIA shares up 3.2%, Intel up 1.8%. The market widely expects the AI industry chain upstream (chips, optical modules, servers) to continue benefiting from capital expenditure expansion. Bank of America Merrill Lynch raised AMD's target price from $180 to $210, citing better-than-expected AI chip revenue growth and margin improvement.

However, some analysts also warn of risks: the investment return cycle for AI chips is long, and if downstream applications (such as AI assistants, autonomous driving) commercialize below expectations, it could lead to a demand bubble. In addition, the U.S. government's upcoming new round of semiconductor export restrictions to China may affect AMD's sales revenue in China (about 15% of total).

Investment Strategy: How to Ride the AI Wave

For A-share investors, direct investment in AMD via U.S. accounts or holding related ETFs (e.g., SMH, QQQ) is an option, as well as following A-share AI computing chain targets including Zhongji Innolight (optical modules), Foxconn Industrial Internet (servers), Cambricon (AI chips), etc. In the short term, earnings season provides clear catalysts but watch out for high-level volatility; in the medium to long term, the structural AI growth story remains intact, and every pullback can be seen as a positioning opportunity.

Taiyuan Wealth believes that in the second half of 2026, the AI chip track is still in a high-growth phase, and the "arms race" between AMD and NVIDIA will continue to drive industry progress. Investors should focus on companies with real orders and customer lock-in, avoiding concept hype. We will continue to track U.S. tech stock dynamics and provide actionable insights.