What happened
Shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 3.83%) gained 33.7% in January, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The chip designer's surge started with a rival's security scandal and ended with an earnings bang.
So what
In the first few days of the month, AMD shares rose while archrival Intel (INTC +2.97%) was falling on news of security-blasting chip flaws dating back to 1995. It was later revealed that AMD's chips are vulnerable to the same exploits, but investors largely shrugged off that detail.
AMD finished off the month in style, reporting strong fourth-quarter results. Revenues rose 35% year over year to $1.48 billion while the bottom line swung to adjusted earnings of $0.08 per share. Analysts would have settled for earnings of $0.05 per share on sales near $1.41 billion.
Image source: AMD.
Now what
The latest iterations of AMD's Radeon graphics chips and Ryzen central processors drove the company's muscular revenue gains in Q4, and CEO Lisa Su is looking forward to another bunch of new product announcements in 2018. "We are even more excited about 2018 as we launch our next wave of high-performance products and continue to position AMD as one of the premier long-term growth companies in the technology industry," Su said in a prepared statement.
I keep waiting for AMD to trip itself up, as it has done so many times in the past. But the company keeps disappointing me in that regard, and there is much rejoicing among its shareholders. One of these days, I might even have to admit that AMD is on a solid, sustainable path toward healthy long-term results.
