Tech

AMD stock soars after strong guidance, earnings beat

Key Points
  • AMD reported earnings that topped expectations.
  • The company also gave strong guidance for the third quarter and the full year.
  • The stock surged amid heavy after-hours trading.
Advanced Micro beats on top line
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Advanced Micro beats on top line

Shares of Advanced Micro Devices soared after the company raised its outlook and reported earnings that topped expectations.

The stock surged 10 percent in after-hours trading as more than 21 million shares changed hands on Tuesday.

Here's how the company did compared to expectations, according to Thomson Reuters consensus estimates:

  • EPS: 2 cents per share vs. break-even
  • Revenue: $1.22 billion vs. $1.16 billion

As strong as the company's second-quarter results were, tech analyst Patrick Moorhead said there may be more good news ahead for AMD.

"AMD has a lot to look forward to as none of their actuals incorporates sales of EPYC server parts, only limited sales of the new Radeon Vega and none of the Ryzen notebook parts," Moorhead, founder and principal analyst of Moor Insights & Strategy, said.

While expected, Moorhead said AMD's positive operating profit was "icing on the cake."

AMD said it now expects third-quarter revenue to increase about 15 percent year over year. That figure implies third-quarter revenue of about $1.50 billion, easily besting analyst projections for about $1.39 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.

The company said it also sees annual revenue growth in the mid to high-teens percentage, better than its previous expectation for revenue growth in the low teens. Wall Street previously projected full-year revenue growth of about 12.8 percent, according to a Thomson Reuters consensus estimate.

AMD's optimistic revenue forecasts parallel AMD's expectation for a year-over-year decline in inventory for 2017. During its Tuesday earnings call, AMD said it's in the process of catching up with demand and is ramping up production to replenish its inventory.

In June, the stock jumped after the company told CNBC that the dramatic rise in digital currency prices has driven demand for its graphics cards. At the time, major computer hardware retailers had sold out of AMD's recently launched RX 570 and RX 580 models.

While Bitcoin prices have seen some recent turbulence, Bitcoin has still more than doubled in value for the year. Cryptocurrency miners use graphics cards from AMD and Nvidia to "mine" new coins, which can then be sold or held for future appreciation. AMD traditionally has a better reputation for mining cryptocurrencies.

During its earnings call, AMD said, however, that its still prioritizing its core gaming market. The company said it's continuing to watch developments in digital currencies.

— CNBC's Evelyn Cheng and Tae Kim contributed to the report.