Advanced Micro Devices (AMD, $20.27) Squares Off Against Intel (INTC, $48.93)
AMD is quickly catching up with Intel as its PC market attains new heights with the newly developed Ryzen CPUs and the server market with EPYC. Further, the cryptocurrency boom gave AMD’s graphics business a much-needed boost.
For a long time, AMD’s processors were far behind Intel’s, but it is rapidly closing the gap with the second generation Ryzen. Now, AMD is set to launch its third generation in mid-2019. In a live demonstration using performance-testing tool Maxon Cinebench R15, an eight-core Ryzen chip managed a performance comparable to Intel's i9-9900K using 30% less power. But the performance of these new chips across the full spectrum of PC workloads is unclear until evaluation from third-party reviewers.
Regarding pricing, top-tier mainstream second-generation 2700X Ryzen chip sells for $329, a full $200 less than Intel's flagship chip. AMD's third-generation Ryzen chips will probably be more expensive. But Intel is certainly in for stiffer competition.
In the graphics sector, AMD’s two Vega graphics cards launched in 2017 and underperformed as it used far more power than those of NVIDIA. AMD is trying again with its latest Radeon VII to be launched in February. Built on a 7 nm process, it provides significant performance gains over the previous Vega chips. At $699, it's the same price as NVIDIA's RTX 2080. But unlike Intel, NVIDIA is not particularly threatened by AMD.
Expectedly, the third generation Ryzen chips is going to be a fast and profitable growth driver. Yet, due to optimistic pricing of the stock, analysts see revenue growth of 6.3% in 2019.
