What's Going On With AMD Stock On Friday?

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc AMD made a significant claim regarding the future performance of Zen 5 CPUs pending a substantial update from Microsoft Corp MSFT.

The chip designer said Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 11 version 24H2 update will boost performance for its new Zen 5 CPUs.

Reports indicated AMD resorted to discount offers on retail price to spur demand for its Ryzen 9000 series, which failed to impress the Street.

The AMD-specific branch prediction code optimized for Windows 11 version 24H2 will likely ship next month, the Verge cites AMD.

“Zen 5 will see the biggest boost, but this Windows update will improve performance for Zen 4 and Zen 3 as well,” said AMD.

AMD predicted a 13% performance improvement for its 9950X CPU in Far Cry 6, running 24H2 instead of 23H2, and a 7% jump for Cyberpunk 2077.

Analysts, including Oppenheimer’s Rick Schafer and Truist Securities’ William Stein, evaluated AMD based on its plans to acquire AI server company ZT Systems for $4.9 billion. They held a mixed opinion about AMD’s mission to compete with 800-pound gorilla Nvidia Corp NVDA in the declining PC market.

Wedbush Securities‘ Matt Bryson and Oppenheimer’s Rick Schafer hailed Nvidia as the critical AI play. This is backed by a robust quarterly print from customers, including Foxconn and Super Micro Computer, Inc. SMCI, which bear testimony to cloud service providers (CSPs) and enterprise AI demand.

AMD gained 44% in the last 12 months, compared to Nvidia, which has gained 171%.

Investors can gain exposure to AMD and Nvidia through Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1 QQQ, and SPDR S&P 500 SPY.

Price Action: AMD stock is up 0.77% at $152.86 premarket at last check on Friday.

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