New York, Feb 6, 2026, 16:28 (ET) — Trading after the bell.
- AMD shares bounced back, clawing higher after dropping steeply over the last two sessions following earnings.
- Chip stocks moved higher, with traders zeroing in on Big Tech’s AI budget plans.
- Next up, traders are watching for filings, broker resets, and Nvidia’s late-February results as potential signals.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc shares jumped 8.2% to $208.28 on Friday, with the stock bouncing between $192.66 and $209.24 through the session. Most of the rally stuck after the bell, trimming losses from this week’s sharp drop.
U.S. stocks snapped higher, tracking a rally in chipmakers as investors bet that big cloud players will keep funneling money into AI data center buildouts. The Dow punched through 50,000 for the first time ever. Nvidia, AMD and Broadcom all moved up with traders reading Amazon and Alphabet’s capital outlays as a short-term boost for hardware names. “There’s real demand for AI products, real promise with what they can do, and a necessity of a lot of spending to get there,” said Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird. Reuters
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jumped 5.2% on Friday, ending a three-day losing streak that had weighed on the Nasdaq and hammered shares tied to AI.
AMD took a beating, tumbling 17% Wednesday and sliding another 3.8% Thursday to finish at $192.50, according to Barron’s. Cathie Wood’s Ark Investment Management snapped up 141,108 shares of AMD through multiple ARK funds. A daily trade log for the ARKK flagship fund pointed to a $16 million AMD buy on Feb. 4.
AMD shares came under pressure after the company delivered record numbers but tempered expectations with a first-quarter outlook that investors saw as reserved—this in a market that’s still betting on rapid AI expansion. Fourth-quarter revenue landed at $10.27 billion, with non-GAAP earnings of $1.53 per share. For the current quarter, AMD is projecting revenue of around $9.8 billion, give or take $300 million, which factors in roughly $100 million from Instinct MI308 sales to China. “We are entering 2026 with strong momentum across our business,” said CEO Lisa Su. The company’s non-GAAP figures strip out stock-based comp and amortization from acquisitions. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
Margins and forecasts are at the heart of the conversation, as investors weigh AMD’s projections against Nvidia’s fatter data-center GPU profits. “The expectations for large blowout quarters for AI-related hardware companies have skewed what the market is looking for,” TECHnalysis Research president Bob O’Donnell wrote in a note after the guidance dropped. Reuters
AMD, in an amended annual report filed Thursday, said it had mistakenly swapped the year-over-year changes for average selling price and unit shipments in a previous client revenue disclosure. The revised numbers now show Client net revenue reached $10.6 billion in 2025, up 51%, with processor unit shipments climbing 15% and average selling prices up 31%. The filing also noted that U.S. officials told the company they expect to collect 15% of revenue from licensed MI308 sales to China—though no rule has been finalized.
Thursday brought another round of broker price target changes, with firms scrambling to adjust their AI outlooks after the recent drop. Morgan Stanley lowered its target on AMD to $255 from $260, sticking with its equal-weight rating. Their analysts say AMD’s challenge now is to prove that rack-scale AI demand can hold up as it expands its Instinct lineup.
The same issues remain: heavy dependence on AI performance, increased expenses, and lingering questions about China sales after new U.S. export restrictions. Analysts say AMD lacks strong customer proof and consistent data-center growth, leaving it exposed to more swings—especially given the pressure from Nvidia and custom chips at the major cloud providers.
U.S. markets are closed for the weekend, leaving traders looking to see if Friday’s bounce sticks on Monday—and if more companies tweak guidance after the earnings release and filings. Eyes are on February 25, when Nvidia plans to go over its fourth-quarter numbers.
