AMD expects fourth-quarter revenue of roughly $17 billion, plus or minus 3%, after demand for server processors and artificial-intelligence hardware drove the company to record third-quarter sales. At the midpoint, that outlook is higher than Intel’s forecast range of $15 billion to $16 billion and would put AMD ahead of its larger rival in quarterly revenue for the first time.
Third-quarter revenue reached $13.377 billion, up from $9.25 billion a year earlier and $11.54 billion in the preceding quarter. Net income increased 95% year over year to $2.43 billion, while diluted earnings per share rose to $1.46 from $0.75. AMD reported a gross margin of 54%.
The data-center division supplied most of the momentum. Its revenue nearly doubled from a year earlier to a record $8.55 billion and increased 27% sequentially. Operating income for the unit climbed 168% to $2.88 billion, lifting its operating margin from 25% to 34%. AMD attributed the expansion to its Epyc server processors and the introduction of Instinct MI455X accelerators used in Helios rack-scale systems. The company said Anthropic, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure were already running workloads on early Helios installations.
Based on the company’s overall guidance, the report estimated that data-center revenue could rise to about $12.8 billion in the fourth quarter. Chief executive Lisa Su said AMD now expects server revenue to double year over year in 2027, with data-center AI revenue growing even faster than previously projected. The company anticipates the segment will contribute more than 80% of total sales next year, compared with 64% in the latest quarter.
Results outside data centers were more mixed. Client and gaming revenue totaled $3.722 billion, down 8% from a year earlier. Client CPU sales increased year over year to $2.95 billion but fell slightly from the prior quarter. Gaming revenue dropped to $773 million as console-chip purchases declined and discrete Radeon GPU sales remained weak. AMD expects the combined segment to contract by more than 20% sequentially in the fourth quarter as expensive memory weighs on PC demand.
AMD is also planning around a double-digit decline in PC unit shipments in 2027, while aiming to outperform the broader market through commercial, premium consumer and desktop products. Its embedded division provided another source of growth, with revenue rising 29% year over year to $1.11 billion.
The projected crossover with Intel remains a forecast rather than a completed result. It nonetheless illustrates how AI accelerators and server CPUs have changed AMD’s revenue mix, while Intel remains more exposed to pressure in PCs and conventional enterprise computing. AMD must still execute the Helios and MI455X ramp to reach the midpoint of its guidance.
