New York, Feb 7, 2026, 19:14 EST — Market’s final bell has rung.
- AMD jumped 8.28% to close at $208.44 Friday, clawing back ground following a steep selloff earlier in the week.
- Chipmakers caught a bid, with investors wagering that Big Tech isn’t slowing down on AI data center spending.
- Semiconductor sentiment could shift next week, with fresh macro data and Nvidia’s late-February earnings on deck.
Advanced Micro Devices finished Friday’s session up 8.28% to $208.44, clawing back ground after a 17.31% plunge Wednesday and a further 3.84% dip Thursday. U.S. markets are closed for the weekend, leaving the focus on Monday to see if this bounce has legs. 1
This shift is notable: AMD’s stock often acts as a bellwether for how investors feel about the AI hardware cycle. If cloud companies look set to ramp up data center expansion, chip stocks like AMD usually find support. But when that optimism falters, AMD tends to get hit early.
Capital expenditures are the main pressure point here—money going toward servers, networking equipment, and data centers. That spending tends to boost demand for server CPUs and AI accelerators, those premium chips that train and run artificial intelligence models.
Friday’s sharp rebound followed a tough stretch for the broader “AI trade,” as investors cast doubt on valuations for high-growth tech stocks. The upcoming session should reveal whether buyers were stepping in on weakness, or if this was just another quick bounce in a choppy market.
Chipmakers shot higher, with investors willing to shrug off short-term pressure from Big Tech’s capex ramp and zero in on the suppliers. Nvidia popped 7.8%. AMD rallied 8.3%. Broadcom finished up 7.1%. Over in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, a 5.7% gain capped the day for the group. Amazon, though, slid 5.6% as it laid out plans to hike capital spending by more than 50% this year, echoing Alphabet’s recent move. “Real demand for AI products,” said Baird’s Ross Mayfield. 2
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told CNBC demand was “going through the roof,” a comment that helped fuel the shift in sentiment. For AMD investors, Nvidia’s upbeat order talk is often seen as a signal for the broader AI server supply chain—even though AMD is a direct rival in the data-center GPU space. 3
AMD delivered a record $10.3 billion in fourth-quarter revenue this week, and it’s guiding first-quarter sales to land near $9.8 billion, give or take $300 million. CEO Lisa Su described 2025 as “a defining year,” noting the company heads into 2026 with “strong momentum.” CFO Jean Hu pointed to all-time highs for non-GAAP operating income and free cash flow. 4
The stock’s volatility points to investors zeroing in on two things: how quickly AMD can ramp up its Instinct GPU business, and whether demand holds as big buyers roll out their own custom silicon. EPYC server processors? Those are more of a constant. But lately, it’s the AI GPU story that’s been moving the stock.
The issues that sparked the earlier slide remain unresolved. Bernstein’s Stacy Rasgon called out a lack of “inflection” in short-term AI figures. The company’s latest outlook factored in gains from AI chip shipments to China. Su, however, maintains demand for the next wave of AI servers—including orders from OpenAI and others—should pick up later this year. 5
But there’s a clear risk here too: a pullback from cloud and internet companies on data center expansion—or a shift in investor mood, worried the spending spree is eroding hyperscalers’ free cash flow—and chip names might just lose ground quickly. Should rates tick higher again, tech with long-duration profiles can see valuations tumble in short order.
Plenty on the data docket this week. The Bureau of Labor Statistics will drop January’s jobs numbers Wednesday, Feb. 11 at 8:30 a.m. ET. Then, two days later—Friday, Feb. 13 at 8:30 a.m. ET—the January CPI hits. Both reports have the potential to jolt bond yields and shake up high-multiple chip names. 6
Investors have Nvidia on their radar this month. The chipmaker has scheduled its quarterly earnings call for Wednesday, Feb. 25, a date that tends to shake up AI infrastructure forecasts for the likes of AMD and others in the space. 7
