AMD and Intel lead 2026 gains as AI guard changes

For the past three years, one name swallowed nearly all the oxygen in the artificial intelligence trade: Nvidia.

Its graphics processing units (GPUs) became the gold standard for training the AI models that power everything from ChatGPT to corporate chatbots.

But something has shifted.

Investors are piling into companies that barely registered on the AI radar in 2023. And the companies leading the charge this year are the ones most people had written off, or at least overlooked.

In 2026, AMD and Intel are the hottest names in semiconductors. Let’s dive deeper. 

CPUs are back and bigger than ever

Here’s the simple version of what’s happening.

When AI was all about building massive models, GPUs dominated. But now, the focus is shifting toward running those models in the real world, which the industry calls “inference.” 

And the focus is increasingly shifting toward AI agents: software that takes actions, makes decisions, and orchestrates other AI tools automatically.

That shift puts central processing units back in the driver’s seat. CPUs handle the orchestration layer or the traffic management of an AI system. 

AMD (AMD) CEO Lisa Su made this case bluntly on the company’s first-quarter 2026 earnings call.

She now expects the server CPU market to grow more than 35% annually, reaching over $120 billion by 2030.

“Based on the demand signals we are seeing today and the structural increase in CPU compute requirements driven by Agentic AI, we now expect the server CPU TAM to grow at greater than 35% annually, reaching over $120 billion by 2030,” Su stated.  

Her projections have doubled over the past six months, which is exceptional. 

AMD’s numbers back that up. 

• Revenueclimbed 38% year-over-year to $10.3 billion in Q1. 
• Data center revenue hit a record $5.8 billion — up 57% from a year ago. 
• Free cash flowtripled to $2.6 billion. 

The broader AI trade is getting wider

This is what Mizuho analyst Jordan Klein called a “changing of the guard in AI.”

Since ChatGPT launched in late 2022, Nvidia has been the undisputed winner of the AI infrastructure boom.

But NVDA stock is up only about 15% in 2026. Meanwhile, AMD and Intel each surged112% and 240%, respectively, year to date. 

The logic is straightforward. Data centers need more than just GPUs. They need memory, cables, networking gear, and yes, a lot more CPUs. 

More AI:

• Micron sits at the center of a red-hot chip rally
• IBM CEO sends blunt message on AI and quantum computing
• Anthropic CEO makes shocking admission about AI

Investors are betting this buildout has years to run, and that the spending will ripple out well beyond Nvidia.

Memory has become one of the hottest sub-themes. Global supply is tight, and prices are rising.

Micron stock crossed the $800 billion market cap threshold for the first time, CNBC reported. Micron’s CEO told CNBC in March that major customers are receiving only half to two-thirds of what they actually need. 

Corning, which celebrates its 175th anniversary this year, also just inked a deal giving Nvidia the right to invest up to $3.2 billion in the company for optical fiber technology, CNBC noted.

Intel’s unlikely comeback story

Intel’s resurgence is perhaps the most striking part of 2026’s chip market story.

For years, Intel fell behind and seemed to have missed the AI wave. It lost ground to AMD in data center CPUs, while wrestling with manufacturing tailwinds. 

Now Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan is making the case that the worst is over.

• Q1 revenue came in at $13.6 billion, which was $1.4 billion above the midpoint of its own guidance. 
• Its data center and AI (DCAI) segment grew 22% year over year.
• The company also signed a long-term supply agreement with Google. 

Xeon server CPUs are in short supply, with demand running well ahead of what Intel can currently produce.

Related: Apple reaches chipmaking deal with Intel, pushing its stock to new record

Tan said the ratio of CPUs to GPUs in AI deployments, once as lopsided as one CPU for every eight GPUs in training setup, is moving toward parity as inference and agentic workloads take hold.

Valued at a market cap of $628 billion, Intel stock is up a whopping 500% in the last 12 months.

INTC stock recently gained momentum on reports that Apple is in talks with Intel to manufacture chips for U.S. devices. 

The Wall Street Journal later reported that the two companies reached a preliminary agreement.

One warning investors shouldn’t ignore

Not everyone on Wall Street is bullish.

BTIG analyst Jonathan Krinsky noted that the magnitude of the semiconductor rally looks a lot like what happened in 1999, just before the dot-com bust, CNBC indicated.

He’s warned of a potential 25% to 30% correction in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which is up 66% so far this year, CNBC confirmed.

That doesn’t mean the AI buildout is a bubble. But it does mean investors should be clear-eyed. These stocks have run hard.

The fundamentals are real, but so is the risk of overpaying. For now, Wall Street has decided AI is much bigger than one company. And AMD and Intel are making sure investors know it.

Related: Analysts turn heads with AMD stock forecast after massive rally