European Investor
04 Nov 2026, 09:04
AMD Jumps 8% Premarket as Data Center Revenue Nearly Doubles and Q4 Outlook Accelerates
AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) shares rose about 8% in premarket trading after the company reported record third-quarter 2026 revenue, nearly doubled Data Center sales and issued a strong fourth-quarter outlook.
Third-quarter revenue increased 45% year over year to a record $13.4 billion and rose 16% sequentially. Non-GAAP EPS climbed 74% to $2.09, while non-GAAP operating income increased 75% to $3.92 billion.
Data Center was the clear growth engine. Segment revenue surged 97% year over year to a record $8.5 billion, driven by strong demand for EPYC processors and the launch of Instinct MI450 Series GPUs. AMD said demand for Instinct and EPYC products continues to strengthen as production of Helios systems and 6th Gen EPYC “Venice” processors scales.
Operating leverage improved sharply alongside the revenue acceleration. GAAP operating margin expanded to 21% from 14% a year earlier, while non-GAAP operating margin increased five percentage points to 29%. Non-GAAP gross margin was 56%, up from 54% a year earlier.
Performance outside Data Center was more mixed. Client revenue grew 7% to $2.9 billion, while Gaming revenue fell 40% to $773 million due to weaker semi-custom and graphics sales. Embedded revenue increased 29% to $1.1 billion.
AMD also highlighted broader adoption of its AI infrastructure, with Anthropic, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure running workloads on AMD Helios rack-scale systems. The company continues to expand its AI capabilities through software development and planned acquisitions including World Labs and Taalas.
For the fourth quarter, AMD expects revenue of approximately $17 billion, plus or minus 3%. The midpoint implies roughly 66% year-over-year growth and a 27% sequential increase, signaling a significant acceleration from the already strong third quarter. Non-GAAP gross margin is expected at approximately 55%.
The 8% premarket gain appears to reflect the combination of exceptional Data Center growth, expanding operating margins and an unusually strong Q4 revenue outlook. With Data Center now accounting for the majority of quarterly revenue and management forecasting another sharp sequential increase, investors are increasingly treating AMD’s AI accelerator and server CPU businesses as the central drivers of its growth trajectory.
AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) shares rose about 8% in premarket trading after the company reported record third-quarter 2026 revenue, nearly doubled Data Center sales and issued a strong fourth-quarter outlook.
Third-quarter revenue increased 45% year over year to a record $13.4 billion and rose 16% sequentially. Non-GAAP EPS climbed 74% to $2.09, while non-GAAP operating income increased 75% to $3.92 billion.
Data Center was the clear growth engine. Segment revenue surged 97% year over year to a record $8.5 billion, driven by strong demand for EPYC processors and the launch of Instinct MI450 Series GPUs. AMD said demand for Instinct and EPYC products continues to strengthen as production of Helios systems and 6th Gen EPYC “Venice” processors scales.
Operating leverage improved sharply alongside the revenue acceleration. GAAP operating margin expanded to 21% from 14% a year earlier, while non-GAAP operating margin increased five percentage points to 29%. Non-GAAP gross margin was 56%, up from 54% a year earlier.
Performance outside Data Center was more mixed. Client revenue grew 7% to $2.9 billion, while Gaming revenue fell 40% to $773 million due to weaker semi-custom and graphics sales. Embedded revenue increased 29% to $1.1 billion.
AMD also highlighted broader adoption of its AI infrastructure, with Anthropic, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure running workloads on AMD Helios rack-scale systems. The company continues to expand its AI capabilities through software development and planned acquisitions including World Labs and Taalas.
For the fourth quarter, AMD expects revenue of approximately $17 billion, plus or minus 3%. The midpoint implies roughly 66% year-over-year growth and a 27% sequential increase, signaling a significant acceleration from the already strong third quarter. Non-GAAP gross margin is expected at approximately 55%.
The 8% premarket gain appears to reflect the combination of exceptional Data Center growth, expanding operating margins and an unusually strong Q4 revenue outlook. With Data Center now accounting for the majority of quarterly revenue and management forecasting another sharp sequential increase, investors are increasingly treating AMD’s AI accelerator and server CPU businesses as the central drivers of its growth trajectory.
