AMD Chair and CEO Lisa Su speaks at the AMD Keynote address during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) on January 4, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Robyn Beck | AFP | Getty Images
AMD reported fourth-quarter earnings on Tuesday, beating Wall Street expectations for sales and profit, but guided analysts to a 10% decline in year-over-year sales in the current quarter. The stock rose over 3% in extended trading. Here’s how the company did versus Refinitiv consensus estimates for the quarter ending in December:
- EPS: $0.69, adjusted, versus $0.67 per share expected
- Revenue: $5.6 billion, versus $5.5 billion expected
AMD said it expected $5.3 billion in sales in the current quarter, slightly lower than a Refinitiv estimate of $5.47 billion. AMD’s estimate suggests a 10% decline in sales in the current quarter. AMD’s sales rose 44% in the December quarter.
AMD also said it expected its adjusted gross margin to be about 50%, a key metric for chipmakers.
AMD reported earnings as many of its rival chipmakers have stumbled in recent weeks, citing lower consumer demand for finished electronics and gluts of parts needed to make PCs and servers. Intel, AMD’s primary competitor, reported a disastrous quarter last week that included a weak 2023 outlook.
While AMD said it saw slow sales for its PC chips and graphics processors, it said its data center segment rose 42% year-over-year, suggesting it took market share from Intel.
AMD attributed its beat to strong growth in its embedded and data center businesses, and said that its client revenue, or chips for PCs and laptops, and its gaming segment were down.
AMD’s data center segment rose 42% year-over-year to $1.7 billion. Its embedded segment grew 1,868%, AMD said, because of sales from its purchase of Xilinx.
But its client group, which includes sales from PC processors, was down 51% year-over-year because of a weak PC market, AMD said. It added that its customers have too much inventory of its chips, a theme other semiconductor companies have mentioned in recent weeks. The global PC market is in a protracted slowdown, according to estimates.
AMD’s gaming business, which is comprised of graphics cards and chips for gaming consoles, was down 7% year-over-year. The decrease came from graphics cards and was offset by “semi-custom” revenue, which how the company reports sales from chips for gaming systems like the PlayStation 5.
AMD expects that the segments with PC chips and graphics processors will continue to decline in the current quarter, but data center and embedded sales will grow.