The artificial intelligence (AI) supercycle is creating huge opportunities across chips and data center infrastructure. And at a glance, both Advanced Micro Devices (AMD +0.45%) and Intel (INTC +4.13%) look like reasonable ways to invest in that trend. Both have products tied to AI data centers, and both are trying to win a bigger slice of the next wave of computing demand.
But when comparing the two, I think one of these two chip companies is a better long-term bet than the other: AMD.
Intel may have more potential if its turnaround goes well. But AMD already has a more established business in key growth areas -- and that arguably gives it a meaningfully lower risk profile right now.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
AMD's momentum
AMD's latest results look like what investors should want from an AI supercycle stock.
The company's fourth-quarter revenue rose 34% year over year to a record $10.3 billion. Driving this growth, AMD's data center revenue climbed 39% to $5.4 billion, driven by EPYC server processors (high-performance x86 processors for servers and data centers), and the continued ramp of Instinct graphics processing units (GPUs) shipments.
Momentum is strong on a full-year basis, too. AMD's 2025 revenue rose 34% to $34.6 billion, while data center revenue increased 32% to $16.6 billion. AMD also generated $4.3 billion in net income for the year.
NASDAQ: AMD
Key Data Points
And the company expects this momentum to continue.
AMD said first-quarter 2026 revenue should be about $9.8 billion, plus or minus $300 million, which represents about 32% year-over-year growth at the midpoint. Lisa Su said in AMD's fourth-quarter release that the company is entering 2026 with "strong momentum" as adoption of EPYC and its Ryzen CPU processors accelerates and its data center AI business scales.
The balance sheet also helps make a good case for the stock. AMD finished 2025 with about $10.6 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments (up 106% year over year) and about $3.2 billion of total debt. In the fourth quarter alone, the company generated record free cash flow of about $2.1 billion.
Intel still has to prove too many things at once
Intel's business is certainly showing some notable improvement in some areas.
Its data center and AI segment grew 9% year over year in the fourth quarter and 5% for full-year 2025. But not only is that growth slower than AMD's, but the overall picture still looks much messier. Intel's fourth-quarter revenue declined 4% year over year to $13.7 billion, and full-year revenue was essentially flat at $52.9 billion. Additionally, its client computing group revenue fell 3% for the year, and total Intel Products revenue declined 1%.
NASDAQ: INTC
Key Data Points
The bigger issue is that Intel is still trying to fix too many things at once.
Its Intel foundry segment generated $17.8 billion of revenue in 2025, but it also posted an operating loss of $10.3 billion. Meanwhile, Intel's first-quarter 2026 outlook calls for non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings per share of $0.00.
Cheaper is not always safer
As of this writing, AMD's market cap is about $359 billion, compared with about $255 billion for Intel. Additionally, on a price-to-sales basis, Intel stock is far cheaper. Intel trades at about 4 times trailing-12-month sales, and AMD trades at approximately 10 times sales. So yes, Intel looks cheaper on the surface. But I think that discount reflects the very real risks Intel faces. With Intel, investors need a lot to work, including the scaling of its foundry business, success with new products, margin expansion, and improved financial discipline.
With AMD, investors are betting on a stock that is already profitable and is already growing rapidly.
AMD is not risk-free, of course. Nvidia is still the dominant AI chip company, and hyperscalers like Amazon and Alphabet are investing heavily in their own custom AI silicon.
With all of this said, if I had to choose just one of these stocks today, I would buy AMD. I think it is the more attractive stock because it gives investors exposure to the AI supercycle through a more established business in areas where strong demand is already evident -- especially data center CPUs and AI accelerators.
Intel stock could work if its turnaround continues to gain traction. But I believe AMD is the stock more likely to make investors richer from here -- particularly over a long period like 10 years -- because the path is simpler, the proof is stronger, and the risk profile is lower.
