News AMD 3Q24 Earnings Results

[adroc_thurston]

Not so long ago, that would have been unimaginable. AMD's server revenue is now greater than Intel's. Not so long ago many would have thought you daft to suggest such a thing.

The funnier bit is AMD being the only-other GPGPU option without any pomp a-la Intel and Ponte Veccio hat trick.

 

[Thunder 57]

I have been selling AMD based laptops for my *direct* corporate customers since HP ProBook 6465b which had first (affordable) 4c processor at the time (that model was/is a tank, lasted for ever, and those 4 cpus beat 2c/4t cpus in the end of laptop lifetime).

I also do subcontracting for bigger IT support companies. Yesterday was the *first time ever* I installed an AMD based laptop for enduser. It was LENOVO L14 G5 R5-7535U/14WUXGA/16GB/512SSD/W11P which is 82€ (~8%) cheaper compared to similar Intel model (LENOVO L14 G5 U5-125U/14WUXGA/16GB/512SSD/W11P).

So indeed from my point of view AMD is finally coming to corporation laptop space.

I was working for a large federal government agency a few years back and I was surprised they were issuing Elitebooks with 3500u's. I imagine the market for AMD laptops has only increased since then in the business world.

 

[positivedoppler]

Our current Navy NMCI laptops are AMD
I'm running a AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 5650U

 

[Vattila]

The focus on margins disappoints me slightly

Point taken. While my post focuses on operating margins, it greatly exaggerates my actual focus on margins when thinking about my AMD investment. It was just top of my mind when updating my spreadsheets. It is interesting and enlightening to see where the money is generated and to what extent.

The console contracts constitute a great business for AMD, I agree. Like you say, this business has low operating expenses and pretty decent income at the peak of the cycle, when console chip revenue is amazing really. My gripe is not so much with the low margin, but with the long console lifecycle. A teenager should be able to experience at least two buzz cycles before they grow up. Thinking back to my youth and the excitement about the new and upcoming computers, from Commodore 64, to Amiga, to multimedia PCs, it would be great if they could recreate that buzz. For example, Apple has done remarkably well with creating regular buzz around their near yearly product releases.

I also agree with you on the importance of participating in high-performance graphics, including the importance of the R&D that affects much else that AMD does. I am a little disappointed, though, with the underappreciation of the Radeon brand and the underrepresentation in the market, relative to the strength of the product. I thought of but forgot to mention Jack Heuyn, who after leading the Semi-Custom Group, took over the Computing and Graphics Group last year (replacing Rick Bergman). Just days ago, he personally and prominently launched the V-Cache variant of "Zen 5" in a video where he depicts himself as a gamer. Maybe he has got what it takes to make something happen for Radeon. We'll see.

On the low margin in the Client segment, I guess I am just a bit traumatised by the scorched earth competition and resulting operating losses during the recent downturn after the pandemic boom cycle. But x86 client is a large market, and even at just 15% operating margin in the completed quarter, AMD made $276M, with more growth likely to come (in their record quarter 2022-Q2 they made $676M with a 31% margin). That's a good amount of money, and a rebound that should be celebrated by shareholders, not complained about. Like Lisa Su says, the PC is a great market for AMD.

Anyway, good to see my post spurred some discussion!

 

[poke01]

I thought of but forgot to mention Jack Heuyn, who after leading the Semi-Custom Group, took over the Computing and Graphics Group last year (replacing Rick Bergman). Just days ago, he personally and prominently launched the V-Cache variant of "Zen 5" in a video where he depicts himself as a gamer. Maybe he has got what it takes to make something happen for Radeon. We'll see.

hope the guy is ruthless in a good way. RDNA 4 should be better than RDNA3 not just in specs but how its presented and its audience.

If he is serious about marketshare for AMD GPU, RNDA 4 will make a dent. It has to.

 

[gdansk]

If he is serious about marketshare for AMD GPU, RNDA 4 will make a dent. It has to.

Ultimately, it cannot make a dent unless Nvidia lets it. It's made on the same process and isn't likely to have much of a perf/area advantage. So Nvidia can always cut prices to RDNA4 +$50 and who wouldn't take that deal?

 

[Thunder 57]

Ultimately, it cannot make a dent unless Nvidia lets it. It's made on the same process and isn't likely to have much of a perf/area advantage. So Nvidia can always cut prices to RDNA4 +$50 and who wouldn't take that deal?

When you have people buying 3050's over 6600's for the same price, it just won't matter what AMD does. They would need another 4870 and 5870 run to make a dent.

 

[Joe NYC]

On the low margin in the Client segment, I guess I am just a bit traumatised by the scorched earth competition and resulting operating losses during the recent downturn after the pandemic boom cycle. But x86 client is a large market, and even at just 15% operating margin in the completed quarter, AMD made $276M, with more growth likely to come (in their record quarter 2022-Q2 they made $676M with a 31% margin). That's a good amount of money, and a rebound that should be celebrated by shareholders, not complained about. Like Lisa Su says, the PC is a great market for AMD.

Anyway, good to see my post spurred some discussion!

Current AMD client operation is geared to gaining market share, and doing so by having market leading designs in number of market segments. That did not come for free. AMD had to do some hiring and increased operating cost.

So when looking at last few quarters of financial reporting, AMD already has the increased costs, but not yet the increased revenue. But having the market leading products shifts the center of gravity in direction of AMD.

As far as these market segments let's see one by one, current and imminent situation

Premium Thin and light ranking: (MacBook Air lane)
- Lunar Lake
- Kraken

Premium high performance (MacBook Pro lane)
- Strix Halo
- Strix Point
- MTL, ARL?, Snapdragon Elite

Mainstream laptops
- Kraken
- MTL, Phoenix, Hawk Point
- RPL

Corporate desktop
- turmoil shifting from RPL monopoly to RPL being in the last place

Gaming desktop
- Zen 5 x3d
- Zen 4 x3d
- RPL / ARL / vanilla Zen 4 Zen 5

2025 is gong to look a lot different from prior years.

 

[Joe NYC]

When you have people buying 3050's over 6600's for the same price, it just won't matter what AMD does. They would need another 4870 and 5870 run to make a dent.

To be realistic, AMD dos not currently have the "weapons" to attack NVidia market position head on.

But what contributes to NVidia market lading position (perhaps majority contribution) are mobile dGPU, which is also the area where NVidia is most exposed. Area AMD can flip with Strix Halo, if AMD plays its cards right. (A big IF)

So, this would be an asymmetrical attack by AMD. And what is interesting is that Jack Heuyn is leading both areas, which means that he may be leading this asymmetrical attack.