Intel, AMD poised for AI-driven CPU growth in 2026–27

Intel and AMD are heading into earnings with a constructive setup at KeyBanc, where analyst John Vinh has outlined a favorable trajectory for both chipmakers over the next two years. The analyst expects Intel to post server CPU unit growth of 25% to 30% in 2026, while AMD is projected to achieve 15% to 20% over the same period. The growth accelerates sharply in 2027, with both companies targeting more than 50% unit growth as agentic AI workloads—large-scale deployments of autonomous AI agents in enterprise data centers—increase demand for traditional data center processors.

The strength for Intel and AMD is rooted in the architecture of modern AI infrastructure. While Nvidia has established dominance in AI accelerators (specialized chips designed specifically for AI computation), Intel and AMD's CPUs remain indispensable for handling the broader computing workloads that support AI systems. As agentic AI systems become more prevalent, the total computational demands on data centers rise, lifting demand not only for specialized AI chips but also for the general-purpose processors that manage the full system load.

Beyond Intel and AMD, KeyBanc forecasts strong results in the broader analog chip sector, driven by improving bookings, longer lead times, healthy industrial demand, and broad-based price increases. Within this group, Monolithic Power is positioned to benefit from the early ramp of Vera Rubin, a major astronomical survey project. However, some analog chip specialists face headwinds: Qorvo, Skyworks and Cirrus are expected to face pressure from weaker builds of Apple products, indicating a divergence within the semiconductor ecosystem between AI infrastructure beneficiaries and those exposed to consumer electronics demand.

Intel and AMD are entering their earnings season supported by two structural tailwinds: AI-driven data center investment and a recovery in broader data center spending. KeyBanc's projections signal confidence in sustained demand for traditional server CPUs even as the industry becomes more AI-intensive. The analyst expects 25–30% growth for Intel and 15–20% for AMD in 2026, with an acceleration to more than 50% unit growth in 2027 as agentic AI (autonomous AI agents deployed in enterprise systems) increases the computational load on data center infrastructure.

Critically, this forecast reflects a distinction between accelerator chips and CPUs: Nvidia's dominance in AI accelerators does not eliminate demand for Intel and AMD processors, which handle the broader workloads necessary to operate AI systems. Both traditional and AI-specific hardware are required, and the expansion of agentic AI deployment is expected to lift CPU demand significantly. For Intel and AMD, this represents a path to earnings growth that does not depend on capturing Nvidia's accelerator market share, but rather on general data center scaling.