New to this? Read it in simple words
- AMD’s revenue in the quarter was $13.38 billion, 45% more than a year earlier.
- Its data centre business nearly doubled, to $8.5 billion.
- AMD expects about $17 billion next quarter, more than analysts expected.
- Gaming chip sales fell 40%, and free cash flow dropped.
- Free cash flow
- The cash left after a company pays for its operations and equipment.
- Warrant
- A right to buy a company’s shares later at a set price.
- Gross margin
- The share of sales left after paying to make the product.
AMD makes processors for servers, PCs and game consoles, and AI chips that compete with Nvidia’s. Its results came after a sell-off in chip shares over fears of too much AI spending, CNBC reports.
The numbers
Revenue was $13.38 billion, against $9.25 billion a year earlier. Analysts expected $13.09 billion, according to LSEG figures reported by CNBC. AMD says the result passed the top of its own forecast.
Net income was $2.43 billion under standard accounting rules, almost double last year’s figure. AMD’s adjusted figure, which leaves out some costs, was $3.47 billion. Adjusted earnings per share were $2.09, against the $1.95 that analysts expected.
Data centre sales were a record $8.5 billion, up 97%. That is 64% of all revenue, up from 47% a year ago, CNBC reports.
AMD’s third quarter of 2026, compared with a year earlier, and its forecast for the next quarter.
Why data centres grew
AMD credits demand for its EPYC server processors and the launch of its Instinct MI450 AI chips. It gave no separate sales figure for the MI450.
AMD says Anthropic, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI and Oracle’s cloud are “running models and workloads” on the first Helios systems. Helios is AMD’s full rack of AI chips and server processors, and it competes with Nvidia’s systems.
Chief executive Lisa Su told analysts that AI agents are lifting demand for server processors. “Adoption is just starting, and we expect demand to grow sharply as agents are deployed more broadly and take on more complex work,” she said. She expects server revenue to double in 2027, CNBC reports.
The forecast
AMD expects fourth-quarter revenue of about $17 billion, plus or minus 3%. At the middle, that is 66% more than a year earlier and 27% more than this quarter. Analysts expected $16.2 billion, according to LSEG.
AMD expects growth “to accelerate further in the fourth quarter as we scale Helios and ‘Venice’ production,” Su said. Venice is the name of its new server processors.
The company expects a gross margin of about 55%, slightly below the 55.3% that analysts expected, according to CNBC. The shares rose in extended trading.
The weak spots
Sales of PC and gaming chips fell 8% to $3.7 billion. PC chips grew 7%, but gaming fell 40% to $773 million.
Free cash flow fell to $554 million, from $1.53 billion a year earlier. Spending on equipment rose from $258 million to $648 million.
Standard profit also took a $1.1 billion charge for warrants that AMD gave to “certain customers”. AMD says the charge moves with its share price and other assumptions. AMD has also committed to invest up to $5 billion in Anthropic, and it agreed to put $1 billion into Meta’s share sale, CNBC reports.
Sources
Every fact in this story comes from the sources below. Open them to check our work.
- 1
- 2Research · November 3, 2026AMD stock jumps 8% on earnings as data center revenue nearly doubles CNBC
- 3Research · November 3, 2026AMD stock rises after Q3 earnings beat, as data center revenue climbs 97% Yahoo Finance
- 4Research · November 3, 2026AMD data center revenue nearly doubles as Q4 outlook beats expectations Proactive
The results come from AMD’s own release, and the list of Helios customers is AMD’s claim. Reports differ on how far the shares rose, so we give no figure.
AMD’s data centre sales nearly double to $8.5B. Silicon AI News, November 4, 2026. https://siliconainews.com/stories/amd-q3-2026-data-centre-nearly-doubles
Data centre sales nearly doubled to a record $8.5 billion and AMD forecast $17 billion next quarter, though free cash flow fell. How we rate the mood
The mood shows how the news frames the event for the tech and AI world: as an opportunity (6 and above) or as a loss (below 5). It is not our verdict on who is right.