Advanced Micro Devices is likely to overtake Intel in the central processing unit market, increasing the stock’s attractiveness compared to other semiconductor names, according to Raymond James. The investment firm upgraded the semiconductor name to Strong Buy from Outperform. He also raised his price target on the stock to $641 from $565, implying a 40% increase from Monday’s close. “AMD offers the strongest combination of direct earnings leverage, data center positioning and market share gains,” analyst Simon Leopold said in a note to clients on Tuesday. “AMD’s growth should allow it to overtake Intel during 2027.” AMD is a designer and manufacturer of CPUs, hardware used to power computers, servers and data centers linked to artificial intelligence. AMD Mountain to date AMD so far this year Its business has gained strength lately due to the growing adoption of AI and computers, bringing the company closer to overtaking Intel in market share in at least one area of the CPU market. In the second quarter, AMD’s share of the x86 processor CPU market surpassed 30%, gaining ground on Intel, which controls 69.7% of the market, PCMag reported, citing data from Mercury Research. Raymond James predicts that the CPU market will reach approximately $201 billion by 2030. That figure includes $33.5 billion of conventional data center CPUs, $83 billion of AI headend CPUs, and $85 billion of agent CPUs. The potential proliferation of autonomous AI agents should serve as the “major new growth driver for the CPU market,” Leopold added. Raymond James’ call coincides with the consensus on Wall Street. Of the 54 analysts covering AMD, 45 have a buy or strong buy rating on the stock, LSEG data shows. Shares are up 113% in 2026, outperforming the broader market. However, they are down about 2% in the last three months. The stock gained more than 2% following the upgrade.
