AMD stock rallies toward new highs after CEO sounds positive note on 2021, PC market
By Wallace Witkowski
Chief Executive Lisa Su tells conference 'we see 2021 as a growth year for PCs' after pandemic boom, expects first quarter to be 'better than seasonal'
Advanced Micro Devices Inc.'s stock rallied toward new highs Monday after the company's chief executive said she expects continued growth in the PC market after a pandemic boom and a better-than-seasonal first quarter in 2021 for the chip maker.
AMD (AMD) shares rallied as much as 6% Monday and were in range of setting a record close. AMD shares last closed at a record $92.18 on Sept. 1.
In a conference interview with Credit Suisse analyst John Pitzer, AMD CEO Lisa Su said she doesn't see the COVID-19 boost in PC demand (https://www.marketwatch.com/story/pandemic-computing-created-strongest-demand-for-pcs-in-more-than-a-decade-analyses-show-11602534008)falling off in 2021.
"We've spent a lot of time talking to our customers and their customer's customers and I think what you'll hear is that really we think this is more of a longer lasting situation where the PC has just become essential," Su said.
For more: The pandemic has brought the personal computer back to life, with help from Zoom (https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-pandemic-has-brought-the-personal-computer-back-to-life-with-help-from-zoom-11599316207)
"And so you know the idea that a household, you could do one PC per household perhaps if you're only using it an hour a day it makes sense," she continued. "But now it's really about one PC per person."
"I think we see 2021 as a growth year for PCs, which perhaps we haven't heard in a while," Su said. "And more importantly I think the product portfolio that we have is sort of a very focused on some of these higher and feature sets as well that we think will play well for our long-term share gain prospects."
Su also said she expected the traditionally slow first quarter to be "a little bit better than seasonal" in 2021.
AMD has slowly but steadily been chipping away at Intel Corp.'s INTC (#phrase-company?ref=COMPANY%7CINTC;onlineSignificance=passing-mention) dominance in PCs and now has about 13% of the market in laptops.
For the year, AMD shares are up 101%, compared with a 43% rise in the PHLX Semiconductor Index , a 12% gain by the S&P 500 index , and a 36% rise on the tech heavy Nasdaq Composite Index .
-Wallace Witkowski; 415-439-6400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 30, 2020 15:16 ET (20:16 GMT)
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