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Why AMD Stock Jumped Today

By Timothy Green – Updated Sep 4, 2018 at 3:25PM

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Price-target bumps from two different analysts have lit a fire under the stock.

What happened

Shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD -2.12%) rose on Tuesday after multiple analysts raised their price targets. The stock was up about 10.5% at 2:45 p.m. EDT.

So what

Jefferies raised its price target on AMD stock to $30, an $8 boost, while reiterating a buy rating. Jefferies analyst Mark Lipacis cited market share gains in high-end notebooks and a technological advantage over rival Intel (INTC 0.38%) as reasons for the bullish view. Intel has struggled with yields on its 10nm manufacturing process, leading to multiple delays.

A boxed AMD Ryzen 7 CPU.

Image source: AMD.

Intel still dominates the markets for PC and server CPUs, but AMD is staging a comeback in both markets. Lipacis raised his outlook for AMD's 2019 server-chip market share to 12%, up from a previous outlook of 8%.

Analysts at Cowen also raised their price target on AMD stock to $30, a $5 boost, while reiterating an outperform rating. Intel's chronic 10nm delays were one reason for the price target increase.

Now what

Shares of AMD have now nearly doubled in the past three months, buoyed by expectations of market share gains from Intel. This rally comes at a time when AMD's rapid-fire growth is set to take a breather -- the company guided for just 7% year-over-year revenue growth in the third quarter due to tumbling demand from cryptocurrency miners.

With AMD now trading for 60 times the average analyst estimate for 2018 adjusted earnings, investors buying the stock today are betting that earnings will catch up with the stock's soaring valuation.

Timothy Green has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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