will be one of the few semiconductor companies that grows in 2023, even as talk of a downturn in the chip sector dominates the headlines.
The bullishness reflects AMD’s steady progress in chipping away at Intel’s hold on the lucrative market for processors used in server computers, as well as possible gains when Meta Platforms re-accelerates spending on chips used to power its metaverse project. AMD’s fourth quarter results, due after the market closes Tuesday, are likely to show a small sales increase and investors will be focused on the outlook for this year.
That aside, AMD has been on a more than two-decade run versus Intel: at the peak of the Internet stock bubble in 2000, Intel was the industry whale, with a market value of $500-billion, while AMD was a minnow at $11.7-billion. Now the companies are roughly the same size at about $116-billion.Intel has been slow to introduce new products in recent years, allowing AMD to lure away customers, and now it’s getting hit by the slowdown in PC sales.