INTC vs AMD: Intel vs Advanced Micro Devices Stock Comparison
Intel (INTC) and AMD are the two x86 chipmakers, now on very different paths. Intel makes its own chips and is building a contract foundry, backed by new equity from the US government, NVIDIA and SoftBank. AMD is fabless, has taken a large share of server CPUs and is building an AI GPU business around commitments from OpenAI, Meta and Anthropic.
INTC vs AMD: 1-year performance
Our take
Turnaround with a fortress balance sheet vs. AI-driven growth at a premium. Intel’s Q3 2026 revenue rose 21% to $16.5B on a 78% jump in data center sales, and it now holds ~$54B of cash and investments after raising equity from the US government, NVIDIA, SoftBank and a $23B offering. But its foundry lost $1.9B in the quarter on only $411M of external revenue, and Q4 guidance (revenue $15–16B, ~38% gross margin) sent the stock down 29% in a day. AMD is growing ~50% with 56% gross margins and has the strongest AI GPU pipeline outside NVIDIA, but trades at a triple-digit trailing P/E and has issued warrants that could dilute holders by up to ~20%. Intel is a bet on foundry execution; AMD is a bet that MI450 and Helios ramp on schedule.
Prices and returns on this page update live; company figures are from company filings and announcements. Not investment advice.
INTC strengths
Intel- Data center rebound. Q3 2026 DCAI revenue $7.3B, up 78% y/y, with about $3B of operating profit; total revenue +21% to $16.5B and non-GAAP gross margin up to 44.1% from 40.0%.
- Recapitalized balance sheet. ~$54B of cash and short-term investments after the US government’s 9.9% stake ($8.9B), NVIDIA’s $5B investment, SoftBank’s $2B, the Altera stake sale and a $23B equity raise.
- Strategic US manufacturing. The only US-based leading-edge logic manufacturer: 18A in production, 14A design kits with select customers, joint PC and data center products with NVIDIA, and a reported Apple foundry agreement.
AMD strengths
AMD- AI accelerator pipeline. OpenAI (6 GW), Meta (up to 6 GW), Anthropic (up to 2 GW), Oracle (50,000 MI450 GPUs) and Microsoft Azure (Helios racks); MI400 series and Helios racks ramp from H2 2026.
- Share gains and growth. Q2 2026 revenue +50% to $11.5B with Data Center +107% to $6.7B; about 46% of x86 server CPU revenue in Q1 2026 (Mercury Research).
- Fabless margins, net cash. Non-GAAP gross margin 56%; ~$13.1B cash and investments vs ~$3.2B debt. Long-term targets: revenue CAGR above 35%, data center CAGR above 60%, EPS above $20.
Key risks
- INTC Foundry losses: $1.9B operating loss in Q3 2026 on $411M of external revenue; no named external 18A/14A wafer customer confirmed yet.
- INTC Weak Q4 2026 guide ($15–16B revenue, ~38% non-GAAP gross margin) after a Fab 28 incident; PC units expected down ~12% in 2026.
- INTC Heavy dilution (5.3B shares outstanding), no dividend, ~$20B of 2026 capex and no positive free cash flow expected in 2027.
- AMD Valuation: trailing P/E above 100 and price/sales near 20 price in flawless AI execution.
- AMD Warrants for up to 320M shares granted to OpenAI and Meta (~20% of shares outstanding if fully vested).
- AMD Execution risk on the MI450/Helios ramp, US export limits on China AI chips, and Gaming revenue down 31% in Q2 2026.
Total return
Split-adjusted. Neither pays a dividend.
Quarterly revenue
Q1 2025 – Q2 2026 (calendar quarters).
Revenue growth y/y
Reported revenue growth, same quarter a year earlier.
INTCAMD
INTC vs AMD returns
Split- and dividend-adjustedThe 5-year return is in the table only.
Risk (1 year)
| Metric | INTC | AMD |
|---|---|---|
| Annualized volatility | – | – |
| Max drawdown | – | – |
| Below 52-week high | – | – |
| Correlation of daily returns | – | |
Quarterly revenue ($M)
| Symbol | Q1 25 | Q2 25 | Q3 25 | Q4 25 | Q1 26 | Q2 26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INTC | 12,667.0 | 12,859.0 | 13,653.0 | 13,674.0 | 13,577.0 | 16,128.0 |
| AMD | 7,438.0 | 7,685.0 | 9,246.0 | 10,270.0 | 10,253.0 | 11,536.0 |
INTC vs AMD fundamentals
Latest reported quarter: Intel Q3 2026, AMD Q2 2026| Metric | INTC | AMD | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Market cap (live) | – | – | – |
| P/E ratio (live, trailing) | – | – | – |
| Latest quarterly revenue | $16.5B (Q3 26) | $11.5B (Q2 26) | INTC |
| Revenue growth y/y | +21% | +50% | AMD |
| Data center revenue | $7.3B (+78%) | $6.7B (+107%) | AMD |
| Client / PC revenue | $8.1B (−5%) | $3.1B (+23%) | AMD |
| Non-GAAP gross margin | 44.1% | 56% | AMD |
| GAAP operating margin | 15.3% | 17.3% | AMD |
| Next-quarter guidance | Q4: $15.0–16.0B, ~38% GM | Q3: ~$13.0B ±$0.3B, ~56% GM | AMD |
| Foundry | $6.7B revenue ($411M external), −$1.9B operating loss | Fabless (TSMC) | – |
| Cash and short-term investments | ~$54.0B | ~$13.1B | INTC |
| Total debt | ~$50.1B | ~$3.2B | AMD |
| Capital spending | ~$20B gross capex in 2026 | Light (fabless) | AMD |
| Dividend | None | None | – |
| Potential dilution | 5.31B shares after 2025–26 equity issues | Warrants up to 320M shares (OpenAI, Meta) | – |
Deals, contracts and corporate actions timeline
| Date | Co. | Counterparty | Deal | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 29, 2026 | INTC | Q3 results | Revenue $16.5B (+21%), DCAI +78%, Foundry operating loss $1.9B; Q4 guide $15–16B with ~38% non-GAAP gross margin after a Fab 28 incident. Shares fell 28.6% the next day | – |
| Oct 2026 | INTC | Foundry customers | 14A 0.9 process design kit released to select customers; 14A production planned for 2028 | – |
| Q3 2026 | INTC | Oracle | Multiyear collaboration to deploy Xeon processors in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure | n/d |
| Aug 10, 2026 | INTC | Public offering | Common stock offering announced at $15B; Intel later reported a completed $23B raise | $23B |
| Aug 4, 2026 | AMD | Q2 results | Revenue $11.5B (+50%), Data Center $6.7B (+107%); Q3 guide ~$13.0B; MI400 series and 6th Gen EPYC launched, Helios racks in production | – |
| Jul 22, 2026 | AMD | Anthropic | Up to 2 GW of MI450-series GPUs in Helios racks, first gigawatt in H1 2027; AMD to invest up to $5B in Anthropic | up to $5B equity |
| Jul 20, 2026 | AMD | Microsoft | Helios named the lighthouse rack-scale AI system on Azure, shipping from H2 2026 | n/d |
| Jun 18, 2026 | INTC | Apple | Reported agreement for Apple to use Intel’s US foundry (18A-P) for some chips; not confirmed by either company | n/d |
| Feb 25, 2026 | AMD | Meta | Up to 6 GW of Instinct GPUs incl. a custom MI450 part, first gigawatt in H2 2026; warrant for 160M AMD shares vesting on milestones | up to ~$60B |
| Dec 29, 2025 | INTC | NVIDIA | Investment closed: 214.7M shares at $23.28 | $5B |
| Nov 19, 2025 | AMD | HUMAIN, Cisco | Joint venture for up to 1 GW of AI infrastructure in Saudi Arabia by 2030 on MI450 | n/d |
| Nov 11, 2025 | AMD | Analyst Day | Targets: revenue CAGR above 35%, data center above 60%, operating margin above 35%, EPS above $20, server CPU share above 50% | – |
| Oct 27, 2025 | AMD | Sanmina | Sale of ZT Systems’ data center manufacturing business completed; AMD keeps the design team | n/d |
| Oct 14, 2025 | AMD | Oracle | Initial 50,000 MI450 GPUs for Oracle Cloud from Q3 2026, expanding in 2027 | n/d |
| Oct 6, 2025 | AMD | OpenAI | 6 GW GPU agreement; OpenAI received a warrant for up to 160M AMD shares at $0.01 vesting on deployment milestones | 6 GW |
| Sep 18, 2025 | INTC | NVIDIA | $5B equity investment at $23.28 a share and joint development of PC and data center products | $5B |
| Sep 12, 2025 | INTC | Silver Lake | Sale of 51% of Altera closed (deal valued Altera at $8.75B); Altera deconsolidated | $8.75B valuation |
| Aug 22, 2025 | INTC | US government | 9.9% stake: 433.3M shares at $20.47, funded by CHIPS Act grants and Secure Enclave funds | $8.9B |
| Aug 18, 2025 | INTC | SoftBank | Equity investment | $2B |
INTC vs AMD analysis
Two different turnarounds
A decade ago Intel dominated and AMD was fighting for survival. Today AMD is the growth story and Intel the turnaround. Intel is trying to do two hard things at once: win back CPU share and build a contract foundry that can compete with TSMC. That requires enormous capital, which it has raised by selling equity to the US government, NVIDIA, SoftBank and the public, and by selling control of Altera. AMD, which outsources manufacturing to TSMC, can spend its capital on design and on AI systems.
Data center: CPUs vs. AI accelerators
Both data center businesses are booming. Intel’s DCAI revenue rose 78% in Q3 2026 to $7.3B as demand for Xeon CPUs in AI servers outstripped supply. AMD’s Data Center segment more than doubled to $6.7B in Q2 2026, driven by EPYC CPUs and Instinct GPUs. The difference is what comes next: AMD has signed multi-gigawatt GPU commitments with OpenAI, Meta and Anthropic that ramp from late 2026, while Intel’s AI story still rests mainly on CPUs and its NVIDIA partnership.
Foundry economics
Intel Foundry generated $6.7B of revenue in Q3 2026, but only $411M came from outside customers, and it lost $1.9B. Management targets at least a 20% return on invested capital for 18A and 14A, with 14A production in 2028. Confirmed external wafer customers would be the single biggest re-rating catalyst; the reported Apple agreement has not been confirmed by either company.
Balance sheet and dilution
Intel now has roughly as much cash and investments (~$54B) as debt (~$50B), a big improvement, but its share count has grown to 5.3B after the 2025–26 equity issues. AMD has net cash and minimal debt, but the OpenAI and Meta warrants could add up to 320M shares (~20%) if every milestone is met, and it has committed up to $5B to Anthropic.
Valuation
AMD trades at a triple-digit trailing P/E and about 20x sales, pricing in successful AI GPU ramps and its long-term targets. Intel has a trailing loss, about 6x sales and a forward P/E in the 40s after its post-earnings drop (live figures in the table above). Neither pays a dividend, so returns depend entirely on execution.
What to watch
For AMD: Q3 2026 results and Q4 guidance, MI450 and Helios shipment timing, and warrant vesting. For Intel: Fab 28 recovery and gross margin in Q4 and Q1, 18A yields, any named external foundry customer, and whether PC weakness from memory shortages persists into 2027.
INTC vs AMD FAQ
Which is growing faster, Intel or AMD?
AMD. Its Q2 2026 revenue rose 50% year over year to $11.5 billion. Intel’s Q3 2026 revenue rose 21% to $16.5 billion, so Intel is still larger by quarterly revenue.
Does Intel or AMD pay a dividend?
Neither company currently pays a dividend. Intel suspended its dividend during its restructuring; AMD has never paid one and returns cash through buybacks.
Who owns part of Intel?
The US government holds about 9.9% (433.3 million shares bought for $8.9 billion in August 2025). NVIDIA invested $5 billion and SoftBank $2 billion, and Intel raised a further $23 billion from public investors in 2026.
What AI deals has AMD signed?
AMD has GPU agreements with OpenAI (6 gigawatts), Meta (up to 6 gigawatts), Anthropic (up to 2 gigawatts), Oracle (an initial 50,000 MI450 GPUs) and Microsoft Azure (Helios racks), plus a joint venture with HUMAIN and Cisco in Saudi Arabia.
Is Intel Foundry profitable?
Not yet. Intel Foundry reported a $1.9 billion operating loss in Q3 2026 on $6.7 billion of revenue, of which only $411 million came from external customers.