NEW YORK, Feb 10, 2026, 10:18 EST — Regular trading hours.
- AMD shares barely budged following a report hinting at possible U.S. chip tariff exemptions for AI data center hardware.
- Chip stocks turned in a mixed performance, with investors juggling tariff concerns and changing rate bets.
- Traders have their sights set on the U.S. jobs report coming up Feb. 11, with inflation numbers slated for Feb. 13 also drawing attention.
Shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) barely budged Tuesday, following a Financial Times report that the Trump administration could make an exception for top tech companies running AI data centers in its next round of chip tariffs connected to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s U.S. projects. AMD dipped roughly 0.1% to $215.81 as of 10:18 a.m. EST, having moved between $214.35 and $219.05 earlier.
The tariff story carries weight: major data-center chip customers have a habit of accelerating or freezing orders when policy changes hit. That’s a key pressure point for AMD, busy pushing AI accelerator chips and server processors. For them, it’s the overall momentum, not the granular details, that counts.
Macro numbers are steering things again. December’s U.S. retail sales didn’t budge—flat, not what economists had penciled in. That softer print tends to weigh on bond yields, which can make high-growth names a bit more palatable.
The VanEck Semiconductor ETF started the session down 0.4%. Nvidia declined 0.7%, with Intel sliding almost 3%. Broadcom ticked higher, and U.S.-listed TSMC gained around 1.2%. Both the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 ETFs saw increases of about 0.3%.
AMD shares have been on a rollercoaster since earnings. The stock climbed 3.6% to close around $216 on Monday, recovering after Wednesday’s sharp decline and bouncing back before the weekend.
On Monday, the company tapped Ariel Kelman as its new chief marketing officer, the appointment going into effect right away. Kelman, whose résumé includes stints at Salesforce, Amazon Web Services, and Oracle, steps in as CMO. AMD executive Ruth Cotter described him as a “proven marketing leader.” For his part, Kelman said he was “thrilled to join” the chipmaker. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
According to its investor relations filings page, AMD submitted its annual Form 10-K on Feb. 4 and a Form 8-K just a day earlier, on Feb. 3.
AMD is projecting first-quarter revenue to land near $9.8 billion, give or take $300 million, after last week’s outlook. The company cautioned that sales to China with necessary approvals could have a material impact. “Expectations have skewed what the market is looking for,” one tech analyst noted. CEO Lisa Su, though, doesn’t see supply constraints holding back the planned ramp-up of AI servers later this year. Reuters
The tariff carve-out remains up in the air, leaving policy risk looming. Fewer or slower exemptions—or new conditions—could hit chipmakers with fresh cost pressures and more demand swings. That’s hardly ideal for a sector still priced around big, future AI bets.
Eyes shift to the data calendar next: the Labor Department has the January jobs report lined up for Feb. 11, followed by the CPI—the headline inflation read—dropping Feb. 13.
