AMD, Intel in focus as data shows gains over Arm

AMD (NASDAQ:AMD) and Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) were in focus on Wednesday as Citi maintained its respective ratings on the semiconductor companies after recently released research showed the pair made gains in the chip market relative to Arm (NASDAQ:ARM) processors.

AMD gained 68 basis points quarter-over-quarter and accounted for 19.2% of the overall microprocessor unit market, Citi analyst Christopher Danely said, citing second-quarter data from Mercury Research. Intel gained 37 basis points and now accounts for 71.1% of the market.

Conversely, Arm lost 105 basis points and accounted for 9.7% of the microprocessor unit market, Danely added.

Danely has a Buy rating on AMD and a Neutral rating on Intel.

Breaking it down even further, AMD grew 121 basis points in the notebook market, to account for 18% of the market in the period, up from 16.8% in the first quarter. Its shares of the server market grew 40 basis points to end at 22.5%, while its share of the desktop market fell 83 basis points to 21.6%.

Intel grew 23 basis points in the notebook market, to account for 70.6% of the market in the period, up from 70.3% in the first quarter. Its shares of the server market fell 81 basis points to end at 70.8%, while its share of the desktop market rose 113 basis points to 72.5%.

Arm lost 144 basis points in the notebook market, to account for 11.4% of the market in the period, down from 12.8% in the first quarter. Its shares of the server market rose 41 basis points to end at 6.7%, while its share of the desktop market slipped 31 basis points to 5.9%.

The overall microprocessor market fell 1.7% sequentially, below the historical seasonal average of up 1.8%, due in part to “below-seasonal notebook and desktop CPU shipments.”

Separately on Wednesday, Piper Sandler reiterated its Overweight rating and $175 price target on AMD, adding that it is its top pick in the semiconductor space among large cap stocks The research firm expects AMD to make gains in both the server and GPU markets and that any delay from Nvidia (NVDA) on its upcoming Blackwell line of GPUs would “bode well” for the Dr. Lisa Su-led AMD.

Piper Sandler has an Overweight rating and $140 price target on Nvidia.