New York, Jan 13, 2026, 09:47 ET — Regular session
- AMD climbed roughly 5.6% in early trading Tuesday following a KeyBanc upgrade to “Overweight”
- John Vinh of KeyBanc highlighted “outsized hyperscaler demand” and rising memory prices based on recent supply-chain checks
- AMD will release its quarterly earnings on Feb. 3, posing an immediate checkpoint for the recent rally
Shares of Advanced Micro Devices climbed sharply in early Tuesday trading following an upgrade from KeyBanc, pushing the AI-focused chipmaker higher amid a robust start to 2026 for semiconductor stocks. AMD rose roughly 5.6% to $219.37, after closing Monday at $207.69.
The call matters now as investors race to figure out if the surge in AI capacity is still driving orders for data-center gear or if that demand has just been pulled forward. AMD’s earnings next month are expected to shed light on this — and probably shift outlooks for 2026.
The broader market absorbed fresh inflation figures that kept interest-rate expectations active, a key factor for fast-growth tech shares. The U.S. Consumer Price Index climbed 0.3% in December and showed a 2.7% increase year-over-year. Core CPI, excluding food and energy, rose 0.2% for the month, according to the Labor Department.
KeyBanc analyst John Vinh reported that recent checks in Asia revealed “outsized hyperscaler demand” — meaning big cloud providers are buying memory chips at unprecedented levels. This surge is straining supply chains and driving up prices for DRAM and NAND, the two main types of memory chips. Vinh noted that AMD is “almost being completely sold out of server CPU in 2026.” He rates the stock as “Overweight,” suggesting it should outperform. KeyBanc set a $270 price target and forecasted AMD’s server CPU business to grow by at least 50% this year. AI-related revenue could hit $14 billion to $15 billion in 2026, fueled by MI355 shipments and the ramp-up of its MI455-powered Helios platform. Investing.com
The upgrade buoyed peers, but gains varied throughout the group. Intel rose roughly 3.5%, Nvidia edged down about 0.5%, and the iShares Semiconductor ETF climbed close to 0.8%.
AMD plans to release its fiscal fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 earnings on Tuesday, Feb. 3, after the market closes. The company will follow up with a conference call at 5:00 p.m. EST, it announced.
Investors are keenly watching for shifts in demand and pricing trends for EPYC server processors, especially in the data-center segment, along with updates on how quickly its AI chip production is scaling. Comments on supply constraints, customer order timing, and gross margin — the profit after direct costs — could prove just as crucial as the top-line figures.
The bullish outlook hinges largely on sustained cloud spending and AMD nailing product rollouts that are under intense scrutiny. Any hiccup in hyperscaler orders, shipment delays, or fiercer price battles with competitors could swiftly shift the “sold out” narrative into a margin squeeze.
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