AMD Posts Record Q3 as Data Centre Sales Nearly Double

AMD reported record third-quarter revenue of $13.4 billion on Tuesday, up 45% from a year earlier, as sales in its data centre business nearly doubled. The chipmaker also forecast about $17 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter, and its shares rose about 8% in extended trading, according to CNBC.

The company posted the results on X shortly after the US market close: "$AMD reports Third Quarter 2026 financial results."

Data centre now drives the business

AMD's results release shows data centre revenue reached a record $8.5 billion, up 97% year on year, on demand for its EPYC server processors and the launch of its Instinct MI450 Series GPUs. CNBC said the segment now accounts for 64% of AMD's revenue, up from 47% a year ago.

"We delivered a record quarter with revenue exceeding the high end of our guidance as Data Center segment sales nearly doubled year-over-year," chair and chief executive Lisa Su said in the release.

On the earnings call, Su described the quarter as "the largest and most profitable in our history," The Verge reported.

Adjusted earnings came to $2.09 a share against the $1.95 analysts expected, and revenue of $13.38 billion beat the $13.09 billion consensus, according to LSEG estimates cited by CNBC. On a GAAP basis, AMD earned $2.4 billion, or $1.46 a share, up from $1.2 billion a year earlier.

PCs and gaming lag

Not every unit grew. The client and gaming segment fell 8% to $3.7 billion. Within it, PC processor sales rose 7% to $2.9 billion, but gaming revenue dropped 40% to $773 million on lower semi-custom and graphics sales. The embedded segment grew 29% to $1.1 billion.

CNBC noted that AMD is also a major player in the weakening PC market, which Intel blamed for its poor outlook last week.

Outlook

AMD's fourth-quarter guidance of about $17 billion is above the $16.2 billion analysts had expected, according to LSEG via CNBC, while its forecast gross margin of about 55% was slightly below the StreetAccount estimate of 55.3%. On the earnings call, Su said she expects AMD's server revenue to double in 2027, CNBC reported.

The results come after a volatile stretch for AI-linked chip stocks, with AMD shares falling for three days amid worries about AI infrastructure spending before rallying on Tuesday, according to CNBC. This article is for information only and is not investment advice.