Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. AMD shares traded higher by 3.5% on Tuesday morning after CEO Lisa Su denied a report that she is preparing to leave AMD for a position at IBM IBM.
What Happened
On Tuesday, Wccftech.com reported Su is “eyeing the #2 position at IBM with the eventual goal to end up as CEO and President of IBM, replacing Ginni Rometty.” Su was quick to deny the report on Twitter.
“Just for the record, zero truth to this rumor. I love @amd and the best is yet to come!” Su wrote.
After Su’s denial, Wccftech.com added a note to the original story saying that it would remain live and that it stands by its reporting.
Why It’s Important
Since taking over as CEO of AMD in October 2014, AMD’s stock has skyrocketed 757%. Su has been credited with leading a comeback in AMD’s CPU business, and AMD has even become a threat to Intel Corporation INTC in the server processor market. If Su were to jump ship, it could potentially be a major blow for AMD and a huge feather in the cap of wherever she lands.
AMD shares showed little reaction to the initial report when it was published at around 5:50 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, and the stock remained quiet when the article began circulating on social media and among traders shortly thereafter. The lack of movement in the stock suggests traders didn’t have much faith in the reliability of the reporting.
What’s Next
Tuesday’s report isn't the first time AMD investors have dealt with rumors of Su’s departure. In December 2017, Intel poached AMD’s GPU head, and some have speculated that Intel would likely be very interested in having Su in a leadership position.
Given her track record of success at AMD, it wouldn’t be surprising to see other larger tech companies take a shot at luring Su away. Investors will be watching closely to see if anything comes of the IBM rumors or if Su is linked to any other company in the coming months.
AMD's stock traded around $28.87 per share at time of publication, up 3.1%.
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Photo credit: Gene Wang, Flickr
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