NEW YORK, Feb 10, 2026, 10:18 EST — Regular session.
- AMD traded nearly flat after a report flagged potential exemptions from U.S. chip tariffs tied to AI data centers
- Chip stocks were mixed as investors weighed tariff risk against shifting rate expectations
- Traders are eyeing the U.S. jobs report on Feb. 11 and inflation data on Feb. 13
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) shares were little changed on Tuesday after the Financial Times reported that U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is considering carving out major tech firms building artificial intelligence (AI) data centers from upcoming chip tariffs tied to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s U.S. investment plans. AMD was down about 0.1% at $215.81 at 10:18 a.m. EST, after trading between $214.35 and $219.05. 1
The tariff headline matters because the biggest buyers of data-center chips can pull forward or pause orders when policy shifts. For AMD, which is trying to sell more AI accelerator chips and server processors into those budgets, the direction of travel matters more than the fine print.
Macro data is also back in the driver’s seat for the sector. U.S. retail sales were unexpectedly flat in December, a softer read that can push bond yields down and make high-growth stocks easier to own. 2
In early trade, the VanEck Semiconductor ETF slipped about 0.4%. Nvidia fell 0.7% and Intel dropped nearly 3%, while Broadcom edged up and U.S.-listed TSMC rose about 1.2%; the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 ETFs were both up roughly 0.3%.
AMD’s stock has been jumpy since its earnings week. Shares rose 3.6% on Monday to end near $216, after last Wednesday’s steep drop and a quick rebound into the end of last week. 3
The company added a fresh corporate headline on Monday, naming Ariel Kelman — formerly a marketing executive at Salesforce, Amazon Web Services and Oracle — as chief marketing officer, effective immediately. AMD executive Ruth Cotter called him a “proven marketing leader,” while Kelman said he was “thrilled to join” the chipmaker. 4
AMD also filed its annual report (Form 10-K) on Feb. 4 and a current report (Form 8-K) on Feb. 3, its investor relations filings page shows. 5
On the earnings front, AMD last week forecast first-quarter revenue of about $9.8 billion, plus or minus $300 million, and flagged that approved China sales could swing results. One tech analyst said expectations have “skewed what the market is looking for,” while CEO Lisa Su said she did not expect to be “supply-limited” as the company ramps AI servers later in the year. 6
But the tariff carve-out idea is still unsettled, and policy risk cuts both ways. If exemptions shrink, don’t arrive, or come with strings, chipmakers could face another round of cost and demand uncertainty — a sore spot for a group still trading on long-run AI spending assumptions.
The next catalyst is the data calendar: the Labor Department is scheduled to publish the January employment report on Feb. 11 and the January consumer price index (CPI), the government’s main inflation gauge, on Feb. 13. 7
