Advanced Micro Devices shares hit record high, spark global chips rally on AI demand optimism

ADVANCED Micro Devices’ (AMD) shares jumped to an all-time high on Wednesday as its strong outlook boosted investor confidence about sustained demand for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, sparking a rally across global semiconductor stocks.

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AMD jumped 14.9% and was set to add more than $86 billion in market value, if gains hold. Rival Intel also rose 1.9% to a record high, while chip designer Arm Holdings surged 10.1% and chip-maker Qualcomm gained 1.6%.

Analysts and investors see AMD as a leading challenger to Nvidia’s dominance in AI chips, with the company also seen benefiting from its focus on central processing units (CPUs).

Like rivals Nvidia and Intel, AMD late on Tuesday said a shift toward “inference,” where AI models are deployed in real-world applications, is opening up fresh opportunities for its server CPUs.

CPUs have taken center stage as companies and businesses gravitate towards agentic AI – systems that perform autonomous functions – broadening demand beyond graphics processing units, or GPUs, that are used to train large models.