Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. operates as a semiconductor company worldwide. It operates through Data Center, Client, Gaming, and Embedded segments. The company offers x86 microprocessors and graphics processing units (GPUs) as an accelerated processing unit, chipsets, data center, and professional GPUs; and embedded processors, and semi-custom system-on-chip (SoC) products, microprocessor and SoC development services and technology, data processing unites, field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), and adaptive SoC products. It provides processors under the AMD Ryzen, AMD Ryzen PRO, Ryzen Threadripper, Ryzen Threadripper PRO, AMD Athlon, AMD Athlon PRO, and AMD PRO A-Series brand names; graphics under the AMD Radeon graphics and AMD Embedded Radeon graphics; and professional graphics under the AMD Radeon Pro graphics brand name. In addition, the company offers data center graphics under the Radeon Instinct and Radeon PRO V-series brands, as well as servers under the AMD Instinct accelerators brand; server microprocessors under the AMD EPYC brands; low power solutions under the AMD Athlon, AMD Geode, AMD Ryzen, AMD EPYC, AMD R-Series, and G-Series brands; FPGA products under the Virtex-6, Virtex-7, Virtex UltraScale+, Kintex-7, Kintex UltraScale, Kintex UltraScale+, Artix-7, Artix UltraScale+, Spartan-6, and Spartan-7 brands; adaptive SOCs under the Zynq-7000, Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC, Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoCs, Versal HBM, Versal Premium, Versal Prime, Versal AI Core, Versal AI Edge, Vitis, and Vivado brands; and compute and network acceleration board products under the Alveo brand. It serves original equipment and design manufacturers, public cloud service providers, system integrators, independent distributors, and add-in-board manufacturers through its direct sales force, and sales representatives. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. was incorporated in 1969 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.

AMD looks financially stronger than its current valuation implies, but the market is already pricing in a very high level of expectations. Revenue increased to 11.54 billion, and gross profit rose to 6.20 billion, confirming business scaling and improved monetization. Operating income of 1.99 billion and net income of 1.38 billion, with margins rising to 15.71% and 15.58% respectively, are a strong signal of quality, especially against the backdrop of steady year-over-year improvement. Liquidity is comfortable: a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.96, while a cash position of 13.11 billion supports balance sheet stability. The debt burden is very low: a debt/equity ratio of 0.04 and long-term debt of 2.35 billion look safe for a technology company of this scale. At the same time, ROA of 8.10% and return on tangible equity of 29.01% confirm solid returns on assets and equity. The weak point is the extremely expensive valuation: P/E of 118.15, P/S of 18.33, P/B of 11.16, and P/FCF of 90.37 are significantly above industry medians, which limits the potential for multiple expansion. The absence of dividends does not provide any defensive income and makes the story entirely dependent on earnings growth and expectations around AI/semiconductors. The dynamics of the multiples in recent periods have been volatile, but even after the decline they remain at levels that require near-perfect execution. In the end, AMD’s fundamentals are strong, but the current price already reflects a significant part of that improvement, so only a moderate conservative downward adjustment to the forecast is warranted. For an investor, this means the company remains a high-quality growth story, but entering at current levels requires caution due to high sensitivity to any slowdown in growth or margin compression.

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.

Сильный индекс, без изменений. Быки в растерянности.

Strong index, flat. The bulls are confused.

Слабый индекс, значительно упал. Медведи продолжают терять уверенность.

Weak index, significantly down. Bears continue to lose confidence.

Сильный индекс, без изменений. Рынок на стороне быков.

Strong index, flat. The market is on the bulls' side.

Сильный индекс, без изменений. Рынок не поддерживает медведей.

Strong index, flat. The market does not support the bears.

Средний индекс, незначительно упал. Приток средств в лонги на высоком уровне.

Medium index, slightly down. Inflow of funds into longs at a high level.

Слабый индекс, незначительно вырос. Отток средств из шортов остается значительным.

Weak index, slightly up. The outflow of funds from shorts remains significant.

AMD is showing strong growth in revenue, profit, and margins with very low debt, but its valuation by P/E, P/S, and P/FCF remains excessively high.

Key Points
Nvidia and AMD are the two leading GPU designers for artificial intelligence (AI) workloads.
Elon Musk has spoken highly about Nvidia's GPUs in the past, and did so again during SpaceX'searnings call
Nvidia GPUs are now used in operations at both Tesla and SpaceX, the latter of which has turned its chip procurement into a lucrative AI infrastructure business.
The GPU market is dominated by a duopoly featuring Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD). Nvidia is shipping Blackwell at enormous scale and ramping up Vera Rubin as the next rack-scale platform. Meanwhile, AMD is selling MI300 systems and lining up its next-generation MI400 accelerators to keep its seat at the table.
Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, Oracle, Meta Platforms, Anthropic, and OpenAI are not picking one vendor to supply chips for the artificial intelligence (AI) build-outs. Instead, they are stuffing solutions from both Nvidia and AMD into the same stacks because supply is tight, different workloads require specific architectures, and nobody can afford to sit around and wait.
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »
This is the backdrop of the AI infrastructure landscape. However, during Space Exploration Technologies' firstearnings callas a public company, Elon Musk stepped into the chip arena and made his preference abundantly obvious.
Musk is not hedging his bets
During SpaceX's second-quarterearnings call Musk did not leave much room for interpretation. He stated:
[G]oing forward, we've decided to build exclusively on Nvidia because we think the Vera Rubin architecture is the best architecture. We think it's the best AI computer, and we greatly value our close cooperation and partnership on many levels with Nvidia. So we're exclusive to Nvidia.
This really isn't a shock to anyone who has watched Tesla over the years. Tesla trains some of its autonomy stack on Nvidia's hardware even while the company works on its own inference chips for robotaxi and Optimus. Musk has previously expressed public admiration for Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, acknowledging that Tesla and SpaceX will continue ordering Nvidia chips at scale. The SpaceX call simply solidified a relationship that already existed.
What is SpaceX doing with Nvidia's chips?
AI chips are not used only for chatbots on Earth. SpaceX is using clusters of GPUs to design orbital data centers, integrate with Starlink operations and Starship mission planning, as well as simulate the same kind of work Tesla is doing with its autonomous vehicles. The near-term buzz is around Starmind, an optimized satellite payload built on Nvidia's Vera Rubin NVL72 system.
SpaceX has already turned its Nvidia procurements into a fast-growing AI infrastructure business. Filings detail how the company is leasing large clusters of Nvidia compute rather than sitting on the chips solely to train its home-grown generative model, Grok.
Anthropic entered into a cloud services agreement with SpaceX worth $1.25 billion a month through 2029. The deal provides Anthropic with access to compute capacity across SpaceX's supercomputers, Colossus and Colossus II, which feature roughly 325,000 Nvidia GPUs.
Meanwhile, Google Cloud committed $920 million a month for access to roughly 110,000 Nvidia GPUs, CPUs, memory, and related networking kits through the middle of 2029. Most recently, Reflection AI signed a multiyear deal worth up to $6.3 billion to access Nvidia GB300 chips at a reported $150 million per month.
Why I think Nvidia is the better buy over AMD
For SpaceX and Tesla, Musk sided with the established leader in the chip industry. I think the numbers line up with that choice.
Nvidia boasts a market cap of roughly $5.3 trillion, while AMD hovers around $830 billion. During the second quarter, Nvidia's data center revenue reached $89 billion -- up 117% year over year. AMD, on the other hand, generated $6.7 billion in sales from its data center segment -- an increase of 107% year over year. While AMD is demonstrating strong growth, it's off a much smaller base relative to Nvidia. Meanwhile, Nvidia is growing faster and at a size AMD isn't even close to reaching.
Valuation makes the comparison between the chip rivals even sharper. Nvidia trades at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio around 23. AMD trades at a much richer multiple at roughly 67 times forward earnings. In other words, investors are paying nearly triple for AMD's next dollar of earnings even though Nvidia clearly owns the software stack, the rack-scale systems, and the customer list that includes two empires run by the world's richest person, Elon Musk.
None of this means AMD will disappear. Hyperscalers will keep dual-sourcing and MI400 will continue getting design wins. But from my view, Musk does not appear to be experimenting with the No. 2 chip for his rockets, satellites, and AI factories. Instead, he is doubling down on the platform he's trusted for years. I think this is a good reason for an investor to do the same.
Should you buy stock in Nvidia right now?
Before you buy stock in Nvidia, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Nvidia wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $417,413!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,341,294!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 950% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 210% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
*Stock Advisor returns as of September 12, 2026.
Adam Spatacco has positions in Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, Oracle, and Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Nvidia vs. AMD: Elon Musk Picked a Side on the SpaceX Earnings Call

Key Points
Speaking at Citi's technology conference on Tuesday, Sept. 8, AMD's chief financial officer said the company's total addressable market could reach $2 trillion to $3 trillion by 2030.
AMD had cited a figure of about $2 trillion since its Advancing AI event in late July.
With a forward price-to-earnings ratio of about 33, the stock already assumes the company captures a meaningful share of the bigger market.
When a company adds as much as a trillion dollars to its own market forecast, investors tend to notice. At Citi's 2026 Global TMT Conference on Tuesday, Sept. 8, Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) chief financial officer Jean Hu told investors the company's total addressable market could reach $2 trillion to $3 trillion by 2030.
The low end of that range wasn't news. Since its Advancing AI event in late July, AMD had been telling investors its addressable market was headed to about $2 trillion in 2030, on chip demand spanning data centers, PCs, and embedded products.
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »
What changed on Tuesday was the top. Hu stretched it by as much as a trillion dollars.
Shares jumped about 6% that day and kept climbing the day after. As of this writing, they sit near $521 -- up about 9% since Hu spoke, though still about 11% under the stock's $584.73 52-week high. But how much of the bigger market does the price already assume AMD wins?
Image source: AMD.
What does today's price already assume?
AMD's market value sits near $870 billion. Suppose the market someday pays a mature 25 times earnings for the company -- a step down from the stock's forward price-to-earnings ratio of about 33 today.
AMD would need about $35 billion of annual profit just for its current price to hold. That's more than triple the company's recent pace: second-quarter non-GAAP (adjusted) net income was $2.8 billion, a 22% increase from the first quarter.
AMD kept about 24 cents of every revenue dollar as adjusted profit in the second quarter. At that rate, $35 billion of profit requires roughly $145 billion of annual revenue. For perspective, the company's third-quarter revenue guidance implies an annual pace of about $52 billion.
Set $145 billion against Hu's new range, and today's price effectively assumes AMD books about 7% of a $2 trillion market by 2030 -- or about 5% of $3 trillion. And even that only earns today's buyer a flat stock. After all, hitting those numbers would merely justify the current price. For the stock to deliver a meaningful return from here, AMD's slice has to be bigger still.
That, I think, is what Tuesday's raise is worth. It adds no revenue or earnings to AMD's outlook. But it lowers the share of the market the company needs to win for today's price to make sense. The raise gives the stock a wider margin for error, not a new investment case.
Explosive data center growth
Showing where the growth is coming from, data center products supplied 58% of AMD's record $11.5 billion of second-quarter revenue, a total that grew 50% year over year. The segment, which sells the graphics processing units (GPUs) and server processors powering artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, did even better. Its sales more than doubled compared with the year-ago quarter, to $6.7 billion.
"We expect Data Center sales to accelerate in the second half of 2026, driving stronger overall revenue growth and continued earnings expansion," Hu said in AMD's second-quarter earnings release.
And CEO Lisa Su went further on the accompanyingearnings call saying AMD expects the segment to more than double its revenue in 2027.
Sure, a forecast is not delivery. But a segment that just doubled, and that management expects to double again next year, goes a long way toward making $145 billion of annual revenue by 2030 believable.
A bigger market isn't a bigger share
Of course, a total addressable market is the pool of dollars available to an entire industry, not AMD's slice of it. Every company selling AI chips is chasing the same pool, Nvidia included.
And chip demand can swing. The semiconductor industry has been cyclical for decades, and a $3 trillion projection for 2030 assumes the investment boom behind it keeps running for four more years.
Also worth noting, a bigger addressable market isn't guidance. Hu's range describes what the industry could spend, and it doesn't change AMD's own revenue or earnings outlook.
Ultimately, I think the market read Tuesday about right. A management team confident enough to raise its own market forecast by a trillion dollars is encouraging, and the company's recent execution backs the confidence up.
However, with shares up about 9% in two days and a forward price-to-earnings ratio of about 33, the stock already assumes AMD converts a healthy slice of that bigger market into profit. The raise makes today's price easier to defend, but it doesn't make the stock cheap.
I'd stay on the sidelines at this price. If data center revenue doubles again in 2027 the way management expects, or if shares give back their September jump, I'd take another look.
Should you buy stock in Advanced Micro Devices right now?
Before you buy stock in Advanced Micro Devices, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Advanced Micro Devices wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $409,917!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,341,724!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 942% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 211% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
*Stock Advisor returns as of September 12, 2026.
Daniel Sparks and his clients do not have positions in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

AMD Just Raised the Top of the Company's 2030 Market to $3 Trillion

Key Points
AMD's addressable opportunity could soar over the next few years, according to Jean Hu.
There is some independent evidence that industry demand is on a sustained northward path.
AMD still looks attractive, despite crushing the market over the past year.
Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) is firing on all cylinders. The company's shares have soared by 223% over the past 12 months (as of writing) as its financial results have improved significantly. Some investors may believe that the semiconductor specialist cannot sustain this run, but what if it can? Recent comments from AMD's CFO, Jean Hu, suggest that there is still plenty of room for the company to grow.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »
Relentless demand for AMD's products
AMD is a major player in the server CPU (Central Processing Unit) market and also offers GPUs (Graphics Processing Unit), which have been the defining hardware of the artificial intelligence revolution so far. AMD's GPU market share is far below Nvidia's (NASDAQ:NVDA), but the point is that the company's data center segment is driving outstanding financial results, helped by demand for its CPUs and AI GPUs. And there is more where that came from.
AMD's CFO, Jean Hu, recently said at a conference that the company's total addressable market (TAM) could reach $2 trillion by 2030. Beyond the fact that this is an enormous number, it's also worth noting that management's guidance has been trending up, so there is a chance this estimate could rise in the coming quarters.
Consider, for instance, that in May, the company projected an addressable opportunity within its server CPU business of $120 billion by 2030, with a CAGR greater than 35% over the next few years -- and that CAGR estimate through 2030 was far higher than what it had communicated to investors some six months prior. AMD recently updated this guidance again and now thinks its server CPU business could hit $220 billion and grow more than 50% annually through the end of the decade.
Even considering that management is hardly an unbiased source, the fact that it continues to update these numbers suggests it is seeing real signals in the industry that are forcing it to do so. Are AMD's TAM projections inflated? Maybe. But we can look elsewhere for confirmation that industry demand remains healthy. Consider the hyperscalers, or major cloud computing providers.
Both Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) have increased their full-year 2026 capex guidance, which was already substantial, over the past few months. Both companies are spending fortunes on AI infrastructure. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is increasingly launching AI agents. And as the company's CEO, Satya Nadella, said: "When it comes to running agents, CPUs are just as important as GPUs." That's important given AMD's position in the CPU space.
And as the agentic AI boom takes off, we should expect sustained demand for AMD's products. Importantly, Nadella said that bit about CPUs right after saying that Microsoft will be among the first to deploy AMD's AI computing system, Helios, as well as Nvidia's competing Vera Rubin system. In other words, these companies are putting their money where their mouths are, and they aren't the only ones. This is, indeed, great news for AMD's future.
Is AMD stock still a buy?
In the second quarter, AMD's revenue increased 50% year over year to $11.5 billion, while its adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.66, up 246% from the year-ago period. Provided management's TAM guidance through 2030 is correct and AMD can execute, the stock could continue to post excellent financial results. This helps put the company's valuation in perspective. AMD is trading at 33.4x forward earnings, versus an average of 20.2x for information technology stocks. But AMD is arguably worth the premium, given how fast its earnings are growing.
The company also has a strong position in its core market, a competitive edge due to switching costs and deep, long-standing technological expertise, and recent market share gains against its biggest competitor, Intel (NASDAQ:INTC). Naturally, there are some risks to consider, including the possibility that AMD's TAM doesn't grow as fast as the company expects and intensifying competition in its market. However, my view is that AMD is well-positioned to beat the market over the next few years.
Should you buy stock in Advanced Micro Devices right now?
Before you buy stock in Advanced Micro Devices, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Advanced Micro Devices wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $409,917!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,341,724!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 942% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 211% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
*Stock Advisor returns as of September 12, 2026.
Prosper Junior Bakiny has positions in Alphabet, Amazon, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, Amazon, Intel, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

AMD’s CFO, Jean Hu, Just Announced Fantastic News for Investors

Key Points
Druckenmiller has a long history of success as a hedge fund manager and today oversees more than $5 billion at his family office.
Druckenmiller’s latest AI chip buy is a company that has seen revenue soar in recent times.
Investors often look to billionaires for inspiration because they have demonstrated their investing strengths over many years. And one in particular who has drawn attention is Stanley Druckenmiller. Throughout his 30-year career at Duquesne Capital Management, this top investor produced a 30% average annual return -- and this, without any money-losing years.
Druckenmiller retired years ago and is now head of the Duquesne Family Office, where he oversees $5.2 billion in 13F securities. What's a 13F? Managers of more than $100 million must report their moves to the Securities and Exchange Commission every quarter on this form. This offers us a glimpse into their investment strategies.
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »
And this brings me to Druckenmiller's latest actions in the second quarter. The investing giant dumped Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO), Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), and Micron Technology (NASDAQ: INTC) for the following chip stock. Here's why.
Roles in the AI space
So, first, a quick note on Broadcom, Intel, and Micron. They each play roles in the booming artificial intelligence (AI) space. Broadcom makes routers and switches as well as custom AI chips, and this has helped revenue jump in recent quarters. Chip giant Intel fell behind early in the AI race, but the company has proven itself to be an interesting recovery story in recent times. The company's leadership in the central processing unit (CPU) market has helped, as these chips are seen as playing an important role in the era of agentic AI. Micron's business is booming amid enormous demand for memory chips -- in fact, demand is so high that it's created a tight supply situation, and memory prices have soared. All of this has boosted revenue at Micron.
The performance of these three stocks reflects their successes, though Broadcom has lost some momentum in recent months.
Now, let's consider the moves Druckenmiller made in the second quarter:
He closed out his positions in Broadcom, Intel, and Micron. These previously represented 1.8%, 0.5%, and 0.2% of his portfolio, respectively.
Druckenmiller opened a position in chip designer Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD). He bought 72,900 shares, and AMD now represents 0.8% of his portfolio.
Druckenmiller hasn't offered an explanation for the move, but a close look at today's AI market may help explain it. Though Broadcom, Intel, and Micron are well-positioned to benefit from AI moving forward, AMD may offer a particularly interesting opportunity. As a leader in the CPU market and a company making important progress in the GPU market, AMD is prompting investors to sit up and take notice.
The importance of the CPU
CPUs may not have been a big focus in the earliest days of AI, but today they are emerging as an essential player -- this is because the CPU powers agentic AI, or an AI agent as it considers a problem and takes steps to solve it. And agentic AI is seen as the next big area of growth.
Nvidia still dominates in the GPU market, and this is likely to continue, but AMD has greatly increased its data center offerings -- and it's seeing success, with revenue soaring. Meanwhile, since AMD's data center revenue is significantly lower than that of Nvidia -- at $6.7 billion versus $89 billion -- AMD clearly has more room for growth.
All of these elements may have prompted Druckenmiller to lock in gains on certain AI stocks and shift his investment into AMD, to benefit as demand for CPUs intensifies and data center revenue takes off.
Is AMD the right investment for you? In my opinion, AMD, trading at 66x forward earnings estimates, looks a bit pricey at the moment, so it probably isn't the best time to buy if you focus on value. But it's clear that AMD is on track to play a big role in the AI story, particularly as the use of AI agents increases, and this makes the stock a fantastic one to put on your watch list and potentially buy on the dip.
Should you buy stock in Advanced Micro Devices right now?
Before you buy stock in Advanced Micro Devices, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Advanced Micro Devices wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $409,917!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,341,724!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 942% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 211% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
*Stock Advisor returns as of September 12, 2026.
Adria Cimino has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Broadcom, Intel, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller Dumped Broadcom, Intel, and Micron for This Chip Stock. Here's Why.

Key Points
Selling AMD at a 33% gain in 2004 felt like skill, but the stock would have soared from $15 to $500 per stub in 22 years.
Owning one bank, one carmaker, and one oil company is not diversification if you can't explain any of their businesses.
Time and compounding do most of the work, and the holding period matters more than the ticker.
There is a TD Ameritrade statement in my office from the mid-2000s that I keep meaning to throw away. I found it again last week. Instead of tossing it, I read the whole thing.
I was 29 in 2004 and buying stocks in whatever amounts I could scrape together. I grabbed 10 shares of Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) at about $15 each. People made fun of this buy around the water cooler, because Intel would surely crush the smaller challenger like a bug. I got out at $20 with a 33% gain in six months!
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »
But because the $150 trade worked, I learned the wrong lesson from it. Then I applied that misunderstanding dozens of times in the next couple of years. With a long-term mindset, that modest $150 AMD investment would be worth $5,000 as of Sept. 10, 2026 (despite spending a decade underwater).
The hall of fame nobody visits
There were tons of misfires. Movie Gallery rented videos in a decade that was actively canceling the concept of renting videos. Advance Nanotech and Harris & Harris looked great because in 2005, "nanotech" did to me what "AI" does to people now. Most of the poor investments are lost to the sands of time, saved statements notwithstanding.
Then there was my diversification phase, and I want to be precise about how dumb this was. For a couple of years, I decided that diversification meant owning one company each from a bunch of different industries. A bank, a carmaker, and an oil company would be a good start, even if I didn't understand their businesses. I just liked that the categories were different.
Somewhere in there, I also tried options and short-selling, which is a bit like taking up recreational chainsaw juggling before you learn to juggle tennis balls. On the upside, I never risked much money in those experiments.
The boring answer, which is also the correct one
A few big winners more than made up for all the cash-burning losses.
My best bets were Alphabet, Netflix, and Intuitive Surgical. These picks actually made some fundamental sense. Alphabet's Google stood out as a durable winner from the start, when WebCrawler and AltaVista still felt modern. I wrote a deep dive on movie rentals in 2006, where Netflix was building distribution while Blockbuster was defending real estate. Intuitive Surgical's robots produced better patient outcomes than handheld scalpels.
The old me would have taken small profits and moved on. The real takeaway is that I learned to let the winners run for a long time. I still own all three, and each is up 1,000% or more.
Here is the annoying part. I did not need to pick those specific winners. The SPDR S&P 500 (NYSEMKT: SPY) had been sitting there since 1993, available to anyone with a brokerage account and a pulse. If I had just fed $300 per month into an automated SPY investment starting in 2005, that money would be worth about $300,000 today. That's $75,600 of cash contributions and roughly $220,000 of returns over 21 years. No stock research. No cleverness. Just showing up, including in 2008 and the COVID-19 lockdowns, when it looked like a mistake.
Time and compounding do the heavy lifting. Everything else is decoration. It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure that out, and I have an old paper statement in a drawer to prove it.
Should you buy stock in SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust right now?
Before you buy stock in SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $409,917!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,341,724!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 942% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 211% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
*Stock Advisor returns as of September 11, 2026.
Anders Bylund has positions in Alphabet, Intel, Intuitive Surgical, and Netflix. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, Intel, Intuitive Surgical, and Netflix. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

1 Thing I Wish I'd Known About the Stock Market When I First Started Investing

Key Points
Advanced Micro Devices is rapidly expanding its data center presence through strategic AI partnerships and infrastructure acquisitions.
Qualcomm is diversifying its revenue streams by shifting focus from mobile handsets to automotive and AI-native data centers.
Which semiconductor stock deserves a spot in your portfolio?
As the artificial intelligence boom shifts from cloud servers to edge devices, investors must decide which chip titan offers better value: Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) or Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM)?
Advanced Micro Devices has transformed itself from a secondary CPU maker into a powerhouse in data center GPUs and high-performance computing. Meanwhile, Qualcomm is leveraging its dominance in smartphone connectivity to expand into automotive systems and on-device AI. Both companies are vying for leadership in a rapidly evolving hardware landscape.
The case for Advanced Micro Devices
Advanced Micro Devices develops high-performance computing products for cloud infrastructure and gaming consoles. In its latest annual report, filed for the fiscal year ended December 27, 2025, the company highlighted a partnership with OpenAI and supply agreements with Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT). This customer concentration adds risk even as the firm expands among semiconductor stocks while integrating its new ZT Systems acquisition.
In FY 2025, revenue reached nearly $34.6 billion, representing a significant growth of roughly 34.3% compared to the previous year. The company reported net income of approximately $4.3 billion and a net margin of roughly 12.5%. This trend suggests strong demand for its AI-focused hardware and server processors, which have become the primary engines of its financial performance as it gains market share.
As of its December 2025 balance sheet, the current ratio stands at roughly 2.9x, which is a metric that compares current assets to current liabilities to assess short-term liquidity. The debt-to-equity ratio, a measure of financial leverage, is approximately 0.1x. Free cash flow reached nearly $6.7 billion, though note that stock-based compensation represented roughly 21.2% of operating cash flow, which inflates reported cash generation since SBC is a non-cash expense added back in the cash flow statement.
The case for Qualcomm
Qualcomm specializes in foundational wireless technologies and integrated circuits, primarily serving the mobile, automotive, and Internet of Things markets. Its latest annual report, filed for the period ending September 28, 2025, details a strategic shift toward software-defined vehicles and AI-native data centers. Major customers include Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung, and the company recently expanded its reach by acquiring Modular Inc. to diversify its portfolio.
In FY 2025, Qualcomm's revenue reached $44.3 billion, a roughly 13.7% increase over the $39.0 billion reported in FY 2024. Net income for the period, however, fell sharply to $5.5 billion, down about 45% from the $10.1 billion reported in FY 2024, resulting in a net margin of nearly 12.5%, despite the strong top-line growth. The drop in net income wasn't due to weak operations or R&D costs; it was mainly a one-time, non-cash $5.7 billion charge tied to the U.S. government's One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Excluding that charge, Qualcomm's underlying profits actually grew nicely.
As of its September 2025 balance sheet, the current ratio stands at roughly 2.8x, indicating the company has sufficient short-term assets to cover its obligations. The debt-to-equity ratio is approximately 0.7x, showing a higher level of leverage compared to some peers in the industry. Free cash flow for the fiscal year was nearly $12.8 billion, which is the cash left over after a company pays for its capital expenditures from its operating cash flow.
Risk profile comparison
Advanced Micro Devices faces intense competition from Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), both of which leverage large software ecosystems to maintain market share. Geopolitical tensions also pose a threat, as evidenced by an $800 million inventory charge in early 2025 due to U.S. export controls on sales to China. Additionally, the company relies heavily on third-party foundries like TSMC, making it vulnerable to any manufacturing disruptions or capacity shortages.
Qualcomm deals with significant revenue concentration among a few mobile handset manufacturers, many of whom are increasingly developing their own internal chips. The company also remains highly exposed to regulatory and trade policy risks involving China, which serves as a critical manufacturing hub. Furthermore, ongoing legal challenges to its patent licensing model could fundamentally alter its high-margin revenue streams if future court rulings are unfavorable.
Valuation comparison
Qualcomm currently trades at a much lower Forward P/E and P/S ratio than AMD, suggesting a more conservative valuation of its future earnings estimates.
Metric
Advanced Micro Devices
Qualcomm
Forward P/E
58.3x
15.6x
P/S ratio
20.9x
3.9x
Valuation metrics sourced from Financial Modeling Prep (FMP) and may differ from other data providers.
Which stock would I buy in 2026?
I'd go with AMD, although Qualcomm's ongoing transformation beyond smartphones is worth acknowledging. Its automotive segment just posted a record quarter, growing at an extraordinary rate year over year. A new partnership with BMW cements its position as a key player in next-generation vehicles, and an emerging data center business adds another growth engine that could matter a great deal in the years ahead.
But Qualcomm is also navigating a difficult stretch in its core smartphone business. Android handset demand is soft, and memory cost increases are squeezing margins. A sharp drop in Apple revenue is expected in the coming quarter. Those headwinds are manageable but create near-term uncertainty that concerns me.
The path forward at AMD is considerably cleaner. Data center sales more than doubled year over year. A partnership with Anthropic backs up management's confidence in continued growth, and the company keeps posting results that surprise analysts to the upside. For a long-term investor, AMD's remarkable momentum in the most important part of the semiconductor market makes it the stronger pick right now.
Should you buy stock in Advanced Micro Devices right now?
Before you buy stock in Advanced Micro Devices, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Advanced Micro Devices wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
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*Stock Advisor returns as of September 11, 2026.
Sara Appino has positions in Apple, Nvidia, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Apple, Intel, Microsoft, Nvidia, Qualcomm, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Advanced Micro Devices vs. Qualcomm: Which Technology Stock Is a Better Buy in 2026?

Key Points
Broadcom could double its AI semiconductor revenue in 2027 and again in 2028.
Nvidia is still growing at a faster rate than AMD even though it's far larger.
The question of which AI hardware company is best seems to always circle around Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) and Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA). However, I don't think that's who Nvidia shareholders need to be concerned about.
Instead, I think investors need to look outside the GPU realm and start looking at custom AI chips that could steal market share. The biggest name in this space is Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO), and I think it is actually Nvidia's No. 1 competitor right now.
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »
This shifts the narrative completely, and once you see the growth Broadcom is projecting, it's easy to understand why Nvidia has cause for concern.
AMD's results aren't as impressive as Nvidia's
First, let's figure out why AMD isn't a threat. At the start of the AI arms race, Nvidia captured a lot of the data center computing market share because its products were flat-out better than AMD's. The biggest advantage Nvidia had was its CUDA software, which controls how its GPUs process calculations. AMD didn't have a great counterpart to this software, so every company naturally gravitated toward Nvidia's GPUs. While there could be some arguments made for whether AMD's or Nvidia's hardware is better today, the reality is that a vast majority of existing infrastructure is already set up for Nvidia GPUs, so a wholesale switch is highly unlikely due to switching costs.
Additionally, Nvidia is still growing faster despite AMD's smaller size (which should ideally make it easier to grow faster). During Nvidia's Q2, ended July, its data center division grew at a 117% pace to $89 billion. AMD's data center division generated a mere $6.7 billion and grew at a 107% pace. That clearly indicates Nvidia is still growing faster and has a huge size advantage as well.
However, another competitor is rising.
Broadcom forecasts monster growth over the next few years
GPU-based computing is great for all sorts of workloads, and the flexibility it provides is unparalleled. However, GPUs aren't always used for their full capabilities, and sometimes end up running one workload over their entire lifespan. That wastes many features, making it not optimized for the task.
As the AI build-out progresses, the AI hyperscalers are looking to optimize computing costs, and that means developing custom AI hardware specifically built for workloads they will see. There will always be a place for GPUs in AI, as there may be odd data sets or other workloads that aren't suited for custom AI chips, but a healthy amount of workloads can be run for cheaper on optimized hardware.
None of the AI hyperscalers has the expertise to design and build its own computing chip, so they bring on a partner like Broadcom to handle this. This creates a great relationship, as Broadcom brings the manufacturing capabilities and design knowledge, while the AI hyperscalers bring massive computing demand.
Broadcom has four major clients: Alphabet, Meta Platforms, OpenAI, and Anthropic. Currently, Alphabet's Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) is the only computing unit being used in large numbers. Still, the other three are ramping up their orders, which is causing Broadcom's revenue to grow rapidly. During the fiscal third quarter (ended Aug. 2), Broadcom's AI semiconductor revenue totaled $16.7 billion, up 221% year over year.
While that's smaller than Nvidia by a long shot, it's growing far faster than either Nvidia or AMD. Furthermore, Broadcom expects its AI semiconductor revenue to double in 2027 to $115 billion and again in 2028 to $230 billion. That makes it a force to be reckoned with in the computing space, and I think Nvidia has more to worry about with Broadcom than it does with AMD.
I think the best way to invest in AI computing is to take positions in both Nvidia and Broadcom, as I have done. That way, you can benefit from whichever one ends up being the winner. While I think both of these companies will end up sharing a large portion of market share, Broadcom is certainly growing faster right now and is well-positioned to continue capturing additional market share.
Should you buy stock in Broadcom right now?
Before you buy stock in Broadcom, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Broadcom wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $409,917!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,341,724!*
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*Stock Advisor returns as of September 11, 2026.
Keithen Drury has positions in Alphabet, Broadcom, Meta Platforms, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, Broadcom, Meta Platforms, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Forget AMD. Here's Who Nvidia Really Needs to Be Worried About.

Marvell Technology MRVL is benefiting from several AI infrastructure growth engines, including custom silicon, interconnect, optics and Ethernet switching. Custom silicon has more than 20 multi-generational socket wins, supporting a broader pipeline beyond individual product cycles. MRVL expects custom revenues to grow more than 20% in fiscal 2027 and more than double in fiscal 2028.
Growing hyperscaler demand for differentiated XPU and XPU-attach solutions as customers increasingly pursue tighter hardware-software co-design across AI infrastructure platforms. Interconnect and optics are also expanding MRVL’s AI opportunity. Management expects the interconnect business to grow more than 70% year over year in fiscal 2027, supported by scale-out PAM ramps and scale-up and scale-across networking contributions.
The company expects TIAs and drivers to exceed a $1 billion annualized revenue run rate within the next few quarters. It also sees DCI module revenues reaching about a $1 billion rate during fiscal 2028, highlighting multi-site AI demand. MRVL’s connectivity portfolio is advancing as AI clusters become larger and more complex. Marvell Technology highlighted strong 800G PAM4 demand and a quick ramp of 1.6T solutions.
MRVL’s Ethernet switching is gaining traction as well. Marvell Technology’s expanded NVIDIA partnership spans optics, NVLink Fusion integration and AI-RAN, potentially widening access to next-generation infrastructure programs. However, geopolitical and policy risks remain important because MRVL operates through a global supply chain.
MRVL ships a large portion of its products to China and Taiwan, while only a small portion is shipped to the United States. Evolving U.S. chip export restrictions, tariffs and trade tensions could alter customer purchasing behavior, delay deployments or raise compliance and logistics costs. Additionally, competition from other major players is also rising.
How Competitors Fare Against MRVL
Broadcom AVGO remains a key competitor in HDD storage SoCs, while MRVL faces broader competition from diversified semiconductor companies across connectivity markets. The company faces stiff competition in the networking and custom silicon space from Advanced Micro Devices AMD as well. Competition could pressure pricing and returns, particularly in mature storage and connectivity categories.
Broadcom is a leader in the domain of custom silicon solutions for data centers. Broadcom’s advanced 3.5D XDSiP packaging platform is critical to ensure the performance and efficiency of custom AI XPUs. Advanced Micro Devices offers semi-custom SoCs and Instinct Accelerators to power data centers.
MRVL's Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates
Marvell Technology shares have rallied 167.8% year to date, outperforming the Zacks Electronics - Semiconductors industry and Zacks Computer and Technology’s appreciation of 30.3% and 17%, respectively.
MRVL YTD Performance Chart
MRVL stock is trading at a Price-to-Sales (P/S) multiple of 12.84X, higher than the Zacks Electronics - Semiconductors industry’s P/S multiple of 5.07X.
MRVL Forward 12-Month (P/S) Valuation Chart
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MRVL’s fiscal 2027 earnings indicates year-over-year growth of 47%. Estimates have been revised upward in the past 30 days.
Marvell Technology currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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MRVL Rides on the AI Capex Wave: What's Ahead for Investors?

For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – September 11, 2026 – Zacks Equity Research shares PBF Energy PBF as the Bull of the Day and Lennar Corporation LEN as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on NVIDIA Corp. NVDA and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. AMD.
Here is a synopsis of all four stocks.
PBF Energy, a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), is having the kind of year that reminds investors why refining – for all its cyclicality – can produce extraordinary returns when the cycle turns.
The independent refiner has swung from losses to record profitability in the space of twelve months, and analysts have spent the summer racing to catch up to the numbers.
The stock has responded accordingly, climbing roughly 190% year to date against an 11% gain for the S&P 500 and touching record highs following its second-quarter report. That is the kind of relative strength, backed by accelerating fundamentals, that we look for.
A Leading Industry Group
PBF Energy is part of the Zacks Oil and Gas – Refining and Marketing industry group, a 15-stock cohort within the broader Zacks Oil-Energy sector. The group currently carries a Zacks Industry Rank of #8, placing it in the top 3% of nearly 250 Zacks Ranked Industries. Because it is ranked in the top half of all Zacks Ranked Industries, we expect this group to outperform over the next 3 to 6 months:
Take note of the favorable characteristics for this group below. Stocks in this group are relatively undervalued and are expected to experience above-average earnings growth, signaling a powerful combination that should lead to higher prices in the future.
Historical research studies suggest that approximately half of a stock’s price appreciation is due to its industry grouping. In fact, the top 50% of Zacks Ranked Industries outperforms the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1.
It’s no secret that investing in stocks that are part of leading industry groups can give us a leg up relative to the market. By focusing on leading stocks within the top 50% of Zacks Ranked Industries, we can dramatically improve our stock-picking success.
Company Description
PBF Energy is one of the largest independent petroleum refiners in North America, operating six refineries across the East Coast, Mid-Continent, Gulf Coast and West Coast. Its system includes the Torrance, Martinez, Chalmette, Paulsboro, Delaware City and Toledo facilities, supported by a logistics network that moves crude in and products out. The company also holds a 50% interest in St. Bernard Renewables, a renewable diesel joint venture.
That geographic spread is the strategic point. Because PBF operates in every major U.S. refining region, it can capture advantageous crude differentials and product spreads wherever they open up — an unusually valuable trait when global trade flows are being rerouted. Management has spent the past two years focused on restoring full refining capability after the Martinez fire, improving asset reliability through its Refinery Business Improvement program, and strengthening the balance sheet.
Earnings Trends and Future Estimates
The second quarter was a blowout. PBF delivered adjusted earnings of $6.22 per share, reversing a year-ago loss of $1.03 and beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.05 by 53.6%. Revenues surged 56.2% year over year to $11.68 billion, topping consensus by roughly 37%.
The balance sheet transformation is equally striking. PBF reduced net debt by more than $1.4 billion during the quarter, cutting net debt to capitalization to 15%, and lowered its 2026 capital spending guidance to $825–$875 million by shifting the Chalmette and Toledo turnarounds into 2027 — a sensible decision that maximizes utilization while margins are elevated. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.275 per share.
The estimate revisions are what earn the Zacks Rank #1. Over the past 60 days, the consensus for the current quarter has surged 80.95%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate now stands at $6.84 per share — a change of more than 1,400% from the year-ago figure. PBF has topped consensus revenue estimates in each of the last four quarters and beaten on EPS in three of four.
Let’s Get Technical
PBF Energy has been one of the strongest performers in the entire energy complex. This is exactly the kind of stock we want to include in our portfolio — one that is trending well and receiving positive earnings estimate revisions.
Notice how shares reside above upward-sloping 50-day (blue line) and 200-day (red line) moving averages, the hallmark of a healthy bull trend, with the stock breaking to record territory on strong volume following the July earnings report.
Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. As we know, PBF has recently witnessed sharp upward revisions. As long as this trend remains intact (and PBF continues to deliver earnings beats), the stock will likely continue its bullish run.
Bottom Line
Backed by a leading industry group and a powerful wave of upward estimate revisions, it’s not difficult to see why this refiner has captured investor attention. Currently, PBF sports the highly coveted Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), placing it in the top 5% of Zacks-covered stocks on estimate revisions.
Management makes a credible case that the mid-cycle margin floor has risen structurally since product inventories are unlikely to normalize before well into 2027. With a deleveraged balance sheet, rising estimates and a top-8% industry behind it, PBF deserves a spot on your watchlist.
Lennar Corporationis one of the largest homebuilders in the United States, constructing and selling homes across a wide range of price points — from entry-level and first-time buyers to move-up and active-adult communities.
Beyond homebuilding, the company operates a Financial Services segment providing mortgage, title and closing services, a Multifamily business, along with a technology and strategic investment unit. Founded in 1954, Lennar has built more than 1.5 million homes.
Despite its storied history, Lennar is caught in the teeth of the worst housing affordability environment in a generation, and the numbers show it. The core problem is straightforward: mortgage rates track the long end of the Treasury curve, and long-term yields have backed up sharply. Every basis point of increase pushes another cohort of buyers out of the market.
Lennar’s response has been to protect volume through incentives and price concessions — a strategy that keeps the production machine running but steadily erodes profitability. Compounding the affordability squeeze is the mortgage lock-in effect. Millions of existing homeowners hold mortgages at rates far below anything available today, which keeps them in place and starves the resale market of inventory.
That dynamic once benefited builders, since buyers unable to find existing homes turned to new construction. But it works only while buyers can afford the payment at all — and at current rates, a growing share simply cannot. New orders grew just 1% year over year in the first quarter, a telling signal for a company of this scale.
The Zacks Rundown
Lennar has been a clear laggard. Shares recently traded near $78, roughly 44% below their 52-week high, and the sell side has been cutting targets — JPMorgan lowered its objective to $77 with an Underweight rating, while Keefe Bruyette maintains an Underperform rating. A Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), LEN reflects sharply unfavorable earnings estimate revision trends.
Shares are part of the Zacks Building Products – Home Builders industry group, which currently ranks in the bottom 21% out of approximately 250 Zacks Ranked Industries. Stocks in the bottom half of Zacks Ranked Industries face a persistent headwind, and while individual names can outperform a weak group, the industry association tends to cap the size and durability of any rally.
With far better alternatives available in the current market environment, this stock should be avoided.
Cracks in the Foundation: Shrinking Revenue and Falling Estimates
The second quarter told the story plainly. Lennar delivered 20,519 homes and generated revenue of $7.9 billion — short of the roughly $8 billion consensus and down 5.2% year over year. Net margin sat at just 4.93%, with shares falling about 5% on the news.
Gross margin of 15.6% represented modest sequential improvement, and management deserves credit for trimming sales incentives to 12.9%. But context matters: a 15.6% gross margin is a shadow of what this business earned during the post-pandemic period, and incentives near 13% of price mean roughly one dollar in eight is being given back to close a sale.
Most telling was the guidance. Management cut full-year delivery guidance to 82,000–83,000 homes, citing what CFO Diane Bessette described as “current pressures on interest rates and continued macro uncertainty.”
For the fiscal third quarter, the company guided to earnings of $1.20 to $1.40 per share on 20,500–21,500 deliveries with an average sales price of $375,000 to $380,000 and gross margin near 16%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate sits at $1.30 per share, reflecting a 35% plunge versus the year-ago period.
Management also flagged expected losses of roughly $15 million in Multifamily, $20 million in Lennar Other, and $15 million across homebuilding joint ventures and land sales. A homebuilder guiding to losses across three segments simultaneously, with deliveries reduced and margins in the mid-teens, is not a company with momentum. These are precisely the types of negative trends that the bears like to see.
Technical Outlook
LEN stock has been carving out a well-defined downtrend. Notice how both the 50-day (blue line) and 200-day (red line) moving averages are sloping lower, with shares trading below them near the lower end of their 52-week range.
The persistent decline has produced a classic “death cross,” wherein the 50-day moving average crosses below the 200-day moving average — a bearish technical signal that often precedes further weakness. Shares would need to mount a serious, high-volume move to the upside and show improving earnings estimate revisions to warrant taking any long positions.
Final Thoughts
A deteriorating fundamental and technical backdrop show that this stock doesn’t deserve a spot in the household portfolio right now, and its membership in a weak industry group adds another headwind.
Falling future earnings estimates will likely serve as a ceiling to any potential rallies, nurturing the stock’s downtrend. Until long-term rates decline enough to restore affordability — the single variable that governs this entire industry — potential investors should give this stock the cold shoulder, or perhaps consider including it as part of a short or hedge strategy.
Additional content:
NVIDIA vs. AMD After Earnings: Which AI Stock Should You Buy Now?
NVIDIA Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. have both gained immensely from soaring demand for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and recently posted strong quarterly results. However, NVIDIA remains the market leader, while AMD continues to gain ground. So, which AI stock offers the better investment opportunity right now? Let’s see in detail –
NVIDIA’s AI Growth Surges as Data Center Demand Rises
NVIDIA’s Data Center business has remained the primary growth engine. Data Center revenues were $89 billion in the fiscal second quarter of 2027, up 117% year over year and 18% quarter over quarter, according to the company’s Aug. 26 press release. Overall, NVIDIA generated $96.2 billion in revenues, up 106% year over year and 18% sequentially.
Alongside rapid revenue growth, NVIDIA exhibited strong profitability. During the quarter, NVIDIA’s GAAP and non-GAAP gross margins both came in at 75% compared with roughly 72.5% a year ago. The company is also translating rapid revenue growth into even faster earnings growth, supported by continued gains in operating income.
NVIDIA now projects revenues of around $108 billion, plus or minus 2%, for the fiscal third quarter of 2027, up 12% sequentially from the midpoint. Thus, NVIDIA’s growth trajectory remains robust, while its cutting-edge Vera Rubin platform is in full production, indicating that the company is well-poised to gain from the next phase of AI infrastructure spending.
AMD’s Strong Data Center Growth Bolsters Its AI Ambitions
The Data Center segment was the primary driver of AMD’s revenue growth, with sales doubling from the same period a year ago in the second quarter of 2026, according to the company’s Aug. 4 press release. Total revenues reached $11.5 billion, up 50% year over year and 13% from the previous quarter.
Strong demand for AMD’s EPYC server processors boosted revenue growth. At the same time, the company’s Helios platform has entered its initial ramp-up phase, while its Instinct accelerators continue to scale rapidly. Consequently, AMD projects third-quarter 2026 revenues to reach $13 billion, plus or minus $300 million. At the midpoint, this would represent 41% year-over-year growth and a 13% sequential increase.
AMD also expects Data Center revenues to improve further in the latter half of 2026, and profitability is projected to improve steadily. The company projects a 56% non-GAAP gross margin in the third quarter, indicating continued progress in margin expansion.
NVIDIA vs. AMD: Why NVDA Is the Stronger AI Stock to Buy Now
The rollout of NVIDIA’s advanced Vera Rubin platform, strong margins, and sheer dominance in AI infrastructure, driven largely by Data Center growth, are expected to support a positive movement in its shares. AMD, meanwhile, is closing the gap through strong Data Center growth, expanding AI accelerator sales, and improving profitability.
Despite AMD’s growing momentum with its EPYC server processors and Instinct accelerators, NVIDIA’s full-stack platform gives the company a competitive edge as AI infrastructure spending increases. With a larger AI infrastructure footprint, NVIDIA remains the market leader.
Moreover, NVIDIA’s net profit margin of 63.7% versus AMD’s 15.6% highlights NVIDIA’s greater efficiency in converting revenues into bottom-line earnings. Therefore, NVIDIA remains the stronger buy, backed by superior profitability, AI infrastructure leadership and full-stack platform advantage.
Additionally, NVIDIA appears more attractively valued than AMD. By price-to-earnings ratio, NVDA trades at 24.26 forward earnings compared with AMD’s 69.59 forward earnings multiple.???
NVIDIA currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), while AMD has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks Rank #1 stocks here.???????????????????????????
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See them now >>
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PBF Energy and Lennar have been highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day

Key Points
Vertiv has become a major player in the AI data center build-out by providing essential power and thermal management systems.
Vertiv's $1.45 billion acquisition of Utility Innovation Holdings allows it to expand into microgrid solutions and upstream power architecture.
The company stands to benefit from ongoing investments in the data center build-out.
The massive artificial intelligence (AI) data center build-out is one of the largest investment supercycles ever. According to JLL Research, global data center investment could reach $3 trillion by 2030. This massive infrastructure spending has created a slew of winners as hyperscalers look to secure everything from chips to power to thermal management solutions.
Vertiv (NYSE: VRT) has emerged as a primary beneficiary of this build-out. Traditional server racks use fans and perimeter air units to cool. But modern AI clusters, like those that use Nvidia Blackwell or GB200 systems, produce significantly more heat and require specialized cooling systems to keep them running.
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Vertiv provides critical power and thermal management systems and has emerged as a top "pick-and-shovel" stock to play the AI build-out. The company is expanding beyond its traditional business, moving upstream to the utility-and-substation interface, and recently acquired Utility Innovation Holdings to build on that position.
Here's why Vertiv's recent acquisition is a big deal.
Vertiv expands into power architecture with its recent acquisition
On Sept. 2, Vertiv announced an agreement to acquire Utility Innovation Holdings (which operates as UtilityInnovation Group, or UIG) for $1.45 billion, plus an additional $1.15 billion contingent on specific milestones.
The acquisition gives Vertiv a company that provides microgrid solutions and behind-the-meter power architecture for data centers. It moves Vertiv's business upstream into power architecture and should help operators lock in power faster as the grid faces severe constraints due to the growing presence of data centers.
Vertiv chief executive officer Gio Albertazzi told investors:
With UIG, we anticipate extending that portfolio upstream to the utility interconnect and onsite power sources, creating a coordinated architecture from source to chip without tying customers to a single generation technology or supplier.
The acquisition is priced at around 13 times UIG's projected earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). If UIG meets those key milestones that trigger the additional payout, the multiple will actually be significantly lower. Vertiv expects this acquisition to boost earnings per share in the first year.
The move helps Vertiv build on incredibly strong demand from data centers
For years, Vertiv has dominated inside the server room. It provides companies with uninterruptible power supplies, switchgear, and intelligent power distribution units that help operators manage grid power fluctuations and prevent sudden power dropouts. Its infrastructure works regardless of whether a data center operator uses Nvidia GPUs, AMD GPUs, or cloud ASICs from Alphabet's Google or Amazon Web Services.
The company has seen incredibly robust demand for its products as hyperscalers spend hundreds of billions of dollars in capital expenditures to build out data centers. In the second quarter, Vertiv's sales topped $3.2 billion, while its adjusted free cash flow surged 234% year over year to $925 million. Management projects sales to reach $14 billion in 2026, with adjusted earnings per share expected to jump 60% to $6.70.
Now, Vertiv is moving beyond the server room and running toward grid and power solutions. This lets Vertiv package its components into a modular container, reducing friction that could cause delays as time-to-power becomes a crucial data center bottleneck. Vertiv doesn't need to hand this off to competitors and can capture a larger slice of data center spend as a result.
Vertiv enjoys tailwinds from hyperscalers' massive spending
Vertiv has emerged as a pick-and-shovel stock benefiting from hyperscalers' massive capital expenditures. As a result, much of its demand is tied to these companies' continued heavy spending on data centers. If hyperscalers begin to cut back on capital expenditures, Vertiv's earnings could take a huge hit.
The risks are real, but so is Vertiv's upside. Analysts covering the company project its earnings per share could grow at a 40% annual rate over the next three years. For investors bullish on the long-term data center build-out, Vertiv is a top stock to buy today.
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Courtney Carlsen has positions in Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, Nvidia, and Vertiv. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, Amazon, Nvidia, and Vertiv. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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