AMD emerges as the better semiconductor buy over Intel, trading at roughly half the valuation while posting faster growth and stronger profits as both companies capitalize on AI infrastructure demand.

What happened: Intel's stock surged more than 500% over the past year under CEO Lip-Bu Tan, posting revenue above expectations for six consecutive quarters, with first-quarter data center and AI segment revenue growing 22% year over year to $5.1 billion（約8200億円）. AMD's stock rose more than 300% in the same period, but AMD's data center segment generated a record $5.8 billion（約9300億円） in the first quarter—up 57% year over year—with total revenue rising 38% to $10.3 billion（約1.6兆円） and adjusted earnings per share climbing 43% to $1.37.

Why it matters: Both companies are winning as AI workloads shift from training models to running them (inference) and deploying agentic AI, which moves more processing work to server CPUs alongside accelerator chips. However, Intel's stock now trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of more than 120, while AMD—growing faster with substantial profits and robust cash flow—trades at about 73 times forward earnings. Intel's foundry business, though bringing in $5.4 billion（約8600億円） in the quarter, is still losing money with a $2.4 billion（約3800億円） operating loss, whereas AMD is generating record free cash flow of $2.6 billion（約4200億円）.

What to watch: AMD has signed multiyear agreements with OpenAI and Meta Platforms to deploy up to six gigawatts of its Instinct chips for Meta, with the first next-generation MI450 accelerators set to ship in the second half of 2026. At its current valuation, a sharp slowdown in data center spending could lead to a steep drop in AMD's stock price, while Intel's case for the CPU in the AI era depends on the foundry continuing to sign outside customers to justify its valuation.