Key facts
- AMD's data center segment revenue rose 97% to a record $8.5 billion, driven by EPYC server CPUs and Instinct MI450 GPUs.
- Data center operating margin widened to 34% from 25%, with operating income up 168% to $2.88 billion.
- AMD guided fourth-quarter revenue to about $17 billion, plus or minus 3%, which CFO Jean Hu said implies roughly 66% growth.
- CFO Jean Hu said the guidance midpoint reflects about 66% year-over-year revenue growth led by the data center segment.
AMD reported third-quarter revenue of $13.4 billion, up 45% from a year earlier, the company said on November 3. Data center revenue nearly doubled to a record $8.5 billion, which AMD attributed to demand for its EPYC server processors and the launch of its Instinct MI450 series GPUs.
Operating margin in the data center segment widened to 34% from 25%, and operating income there rose 168% to $2.88 billion, AMD said. Client revenue, which includes desktop Ryzen processors, reached $2.95 billion, up 7%, on Ryzen mobile chip sales. Embedded revenue was $1.1 billion, up 29%, which AMD attributed to aerospace and defense, automotive, communications and industrial end markets.
Gaming revenue fell 40% to $773 million. CEO Lisa Su said on the earnings call that the decline came "primarily due to lower semi-custom sales as expected at this stage of the console cycle." AMD attributed the drop to lower semi-custom and graphics revenue; the results do not split console chip sales from PC graphics cards.
CFO Jean Hu said AMD expects fourth-quarter revenue of approximately $17 billion, plus or minus 3%, a midpoint she said represents about 66% year-over-year growth, driven mainly by the data center segment. The report, citing Tom's Hardware, said Intel's fourth-quarter guidance puts its revenue between $15 billion and $16 billion; if both companies meet their forecasts, AMD would exceed Intel's revenue for the first time.
Su also said AMD "started shipping MI455X in volume in the quarter, and lead customers, including Anthropic, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Oracle, brought their first Helios racks online quickly." AMD said its Threadripper Halo Station, first shown at IFA in September, is slated for release in 2027 with pricing to be announced, and that Windows systems on its Ryzen AI Halo platform are "coming soon."