AMD Stock Surges: Is Now the Perfect Time to Buy Before the Next AI Boom?

AI Tailwinds Push AMD Stock Higher Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) opened the new trading week with fresh momentum, climbing more than 9 % in pre-market action after Piper Sandler boosted its 12-month price target to $140. The call follows Friday’s close at $116.16, capping a 20 % rally since early June as investors pile into AI chip plays. Solid Q1 Results Underpin the Run-Up AMD’s latest earnings beat set the stage: first-quarter revenue jumped 36 % year-over-year to $7.4 billion, while Data Center sales soared 57 % thanks to strong demand for EPYC CPUs and Instinct MI300 accelerators. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.96 topped consensus and marked the fourth straight quarter of accelerating growth. Analysts see room for more. Management guided Q2 revenue to roughly $7.4 billion, above Wall Street estimates even after accounting for a one-time export-control charge. Several brokerages now forecast calendar-year AI accelerator revenue topping $10 billion. Key Catalysts Driving Sentiment • Full-stack AI strategy: the recent acquisition of ZT Systems expands AMD’s reach into turnkey rack-level solutions, targeting a projected $500 billion AI data-center TAM by 2028. • MI300 ramp: initial hyperscaler deployments are underway, and ROCm software updates delivered day-zero support for Meta Llama 4 and Google Gemma 3 models, shrinking the CUDA moat. • EPYC “Turin” launch window: 5th-gen server CPUs promise higher core density and lower TCO, a timely upgrade cycle for cloud providers. • Favorable comps: Nvidia trades near 40× forward earnings; AMD’s multiple near 31× leaves headroom if margins keep expanding. Risks to Monitor Washington’s tightened export rules on advanced GPUs could shave roughly 5 % off 2025 revenue. Market share gains also hinge on execution as rivals Intel and Nvidia release next-gen parts. Outlook: Can AMD Stock Hit $140? Technical charts show a breakout above $120 resistance with room toward the February peak of $125 and the $135 gap highlighted by FXLeaders technicians. If Q2 numbers confirm sustained 50 %+ Data Center growth, analysts’ $140 target looks attainable. Bottom line: Accelerating AI demand, stronger-than-expected guidance, and a wave of analyst upgrades have put AMD stock back in the spotlight. While export headwinds bear watching, the company’s expanding product stack and improving profitability give bulls a clear narrative heading into the second half of 2025.