Some of the heaviest criticism you can level against Advanced Micro Devices
However, help is on the way. AMD is offering to buy back some $800 million of senior debt that carries a 6% interest rate, using $300 million of cash and the proceeds from a new senior debt offering in the $500 million range. The reshuffling of debt notes moves the due date from 2015 to 2020 and eliminates the possible dilutive effect of convertible notes going forward. There's no word yet on the interest rates of the new debt, but you have to assume the whole waltz would be pointless unless the new terms were better.
AMD is constantly fighting two separate wars: against Intel
It also tells us that AMD isn't looking to go acquisition shopping or dividend flaunting anytime soon. You get what you see, which is a rising business with good long-term prospects but still an imperfect balance sheet. If you want a mid-cap chip stock with no debt in your portfolio, you'll have to wait another few years for AMD to meet your criteria.
Or if you're looking for mid-cap semiconductor stocks with cleaner balance sheets and growth on the menu, you could look into something like Marvell Technology Group
Is low debt really that important to chip stocks? Discuss in the comments below.