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May 21, 2026
CHIP COMPANIES BATTLE: AMD vs INTEL
AMD and Intel are two of the largest semiconductor companies, and the battle is heating up as both compete in CPUs, data centres, and AI infrastructure. While much of the market still revolves around the all-dominant NVIDIA and its AI accelerators, AMD and Intel are being viewed on whether they can compete in AI-driven cycles. Recent earnings reports suggest that both companies are improving, but both remain behind market leader NVIDIA for now.
In recent quarters, both AMD and Intel have improved their performance. AMD has grown steadily due to rising data centre revenue, while Intel has focused on restructuring and cost-cutting. While AMD has been pressing ahead, Intel has been rebuilding its credibility. The most recent (Q1) results from AMD on May 5 showed beats in both earnings and revenue. The key driver for AMD was its data centre business, jumping 57% year on year due to rising AI accelerator demand. Crucially, AMD outlined that it expects Q2 revenue to increase of 45% year on year. Intel also posted above-expectation results on April 23, even if less spectacular than AMD’s. Intel reported that demand for its Xeon server chips increased, while demand was also up for its data centre business. Overall, AMD is seen as a company continuing its rise, while Intel is viewed as a company that has halted its decline and is tapping new revenue streams in the future.
The reaction in the markets to Intel’s earnings was highly positive, with its stock price jumping some 23% and hitting a record high. AMD also increased by 6% and posted an all-time high in reaction to the positive earnings.
For Intel, a major driver this year has been the direct or indirect support from the White House. The company has benefitted from the US CHIPS Act, receiving over $8 billion in direct grants and up to $11 billion in government-backed loans to expand Intel’s US-based manufacturing capacity. In return, the US government now has a stake of 9.9% in the company. The US trade policy of providing incentives to US companies that support its AI push and industry has boosted Intel. While AMD doesn’t directly benefit from CHIPS, it does indirectly since companies that receive support, such as TSMC, enable a stable chip supply for AMD. But in late February, AMD signed a huge deal to sell $60 billion worth of AI chips to Facebook, with deliveries starting this year.
Intel has been one of the comeback stories of the year and just over the past few months a number of major price drivers have unfolded. In early April Intel announced the buyback of the 49% stake in its Fab 34 plant from Apollo for $14.2 billion. The move shows Intel’s intention to create a global foundry alternative to Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC). A foundry is a producer of chips that also supplies to other companies. Only days later Intel announced a Terafab partnership with Elon Musk. Terafab is a planned giant chip factory project led by Tesla, SpaceX and xAI so that Intel would produce hundreds of thousands of AI chips for those companies. This strategy from Intel has increased market confidence greatly and this has been reflected by the sharp increase in its stock price. Intel held its AGM on May 6th and a number of long-standing board members were replaced, signaling the new strategy.
Intel’s stock performance this year has been extraordinary. It is one of the top-performing stocks, and its price has surged 200% to date in 2026. The foundry purchase, the announcement of Terafab, and earnings sent Intel’s stock price surging to record highs. AMD's price has also outperformed most other stocks, jumping over 93% so far this year. Investment banks are positive on the prospects of both companies, Mizuho and Citigroup, upgraded their price targets on AMD and Intel over the past two weeks.
Conclusion
Both companies appear to be on the way up in a sector with huge growth potential (AI chips), but with different strategies. It’s hard to say which company has the edge, but at this point it’s clear that Intel is taking more risks with its expansion and has seen larger increases in its stock price. It remains to be seen if either company can catch NVIDIA.