New York, Feb 28, 2026, 10:46 EST — Market closed.
- AMD shares slipped 1.7% by Friday’s close, with chip names broadly losing steam as Wall Street pulled back on AI-related positions.
- Coming up next week: U.S. manufacturing numbers hit Monday, with the February jobs report following on Friday.
- Traders are looking for new signals around AMD’s AI-chip demand—pricing details, too, plus what those recent mega-deals are costing the company.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O) slipped 1.7% on Friday, settling at $200.21. The week wrapped up with shares under pressure as investors eyed what could drive the stock next.
Chip stocks stumbled, dragging the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index down 1.2% and Nvidia (NVDA.O) off by 3.5%. The Nasdaq slipped 0.92%. “Time for a breather,” said Talley Leger, strategist at The Wealth Consulting Group, pointing to the sharp rally in semiconductors. Reuters
Timing is critical here. Rivalry in AI hardware keeps ramping up, and AMD’s valuation is still closely pegged to hopes for data-center expansion. Nvidia, for its part, is gearing up to roll out a new platform tailored to “inference”—the stage when AI models actually spit out answers. According to the Wall Street Journal, which cited sources familiar with the project, Nvidia’s move is in the works. Reuters
Macro wildcards aren’t off the table yet. With the U.S. February jobs numbers due March 6, investors are weighing the timing of the next Federal Reserve rate cut—while AI-fueled moves keep shaking up select sectors, according to a Reuters “Week Ahead” piece. Reuters
Manufacturing numbers kick off the week, with ISM’s factory report landing March 2 at 10 a.m. EST. That release has the potential to rattle Treasury yields—and with them, rate-sensitive growth stocks.
The labor market takes center stage Friday. The Bureau of Labor Statistics will release February’s employment numbers at 8:30 a.m. ET on March 6.
AMD is pushing to expand its AI business beyond just hyperscalers. The chipmaker unveiled a strategic partnership with Nutanix to develop what they describe as an “agentic AI” platform—software geared to handle tasks, not simply respond to prompts. AMD’s Dan McNamara emphasized that customers want “the freedom to run the models” on whichever infrastructure fits. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
The real weight comes from how massive — and how unusual — AMD’s new deal is. This week, AMD revealed plans to sell up to $60 billion in AI chips to Meta Platforms (META.O) over five years, with a twist: Meta gets the right to pick up as much as 10% of AMD itself. Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Matt Britzman summed up Meta’s approach as “doing whatever it takes” to keep chip shortages off the table. Reuters
Another filing drew some notice, though it wasn’t about a sale. AMD’s Chief Technology Officer Mark Papermaster shifted 413,212 shares into grantor retained annuity trusts, a typical estate-planning setup, according to a Form 4.
Sector sentiment is steering the action right now. Nvidia’s earnings didn’t light a fresh spark—now “It feels like an Nvidia hangover,” said Michael Green of Simplify Asset Management. The chip index dropped, with most of the pain showing up in the Nasdaq. Reuters
Even so, it doesn’t take much to lay out the bear case for AMD. Should AI infrastructure budgets tighten, or if the market’s patience for hefty spending without near-term returns wears thin, chip stocks with lofty forecasts can tumble fast — as Nvidia’s own shares just did after its latest numbers, despite the headline beat.
Investors eyeing AMD will be tuning in for demand signals and product updates when the company takes the stage at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference on March 3, its investor relations calendar shows.
