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AMD vs. Micron Technology: Which Semiconductor Stock Has More Upside?

AMD vs. Micron Technology: Which Semiconductor Stock Has More Upside?

Globe and Mail19 hours ago
Advanced Micro Devices AMD and Micron Technology MU are major players in the semiconductor industry. AMD is primarily known for producing CPUs, GPUs, and other integrated circuits, while Micron Technology specializes in memory and storage solutions. Both companies are essential in powering AI, data centers, and advanced computing technologies.
The semiconductor industry is expected to continue its growth trajectory in 2025, driven by strong demand for AI and data center technologies. Per Mordor Intelligence report, the Semiconductor Industry is expected to grow from $631.01 billion in 2025 to $958.93 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 8.73% during the forecast period from 2025 to 2030. AMD and MU are likely to benefit from the significant growth opportunity highlighted by the rapid pace of growth.
AMD or MU — Which of these semiconductor stocks has the greater upside potential? Let's find out.
The Case for AMD Stock
AMD is benefiting from its strong presence in the data center market, driven by the widespread adoption of its EPYC processors and AMD Instinct GPU sales. In the first quarter of 2025, Data Center revenues surged 57.2% year over year to $3.674 billion, accounting for 49.4% of total revenues.
The company is strengthening its footprint in the artificial intelligence market through an expanding portfolio. AMD recently introduced its comprehensive, end-to-end AI platform at the 2025 Advancing AI event, introducing the powerful Instinct MI350 Series GPUs with 4x generational AI compute gains.
The strength of 7 nanometer-based processors is expected to enhance the company's competitive position in the commercial and server markets. AMD is currently leveraging Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's 7nm process technology, which enables it to deliver its advanced 7nm chips to market faster. AMD Radeon RX 7900 series chiplet design combines 5 nm and 6 nm process nodes, each optimized for specific chips in the GPU.
The Case for MU Stock
Micron Technology is benefiting from rapidly expanding AI-driven memory and storage markets. The positive impact of inventory improvement across multiple end markets is adding to the top-line growth. Robust demand for its high bandwidth memory (HBM) products has been noteworthy.
The company's HBM chips are experiencing robust traction due to their growing use in high-performance computing, hyperscalers and artificial intelligence data centers. The high demand for these chips has led to Micron's HBM revenues crossing $1 billion in the second quarter of fiscal 2025, marking a major milestone.
Micron's expanding portfolio has been noteworthy. In June 2025, Micron announced that it had begun shipping HBM4 36GB 12-high memory samples to key customers, delivering industry-leading power efficiency and performance to support next-gen AI data center platforms.
Price Performance and Valuation of AMD and MU
Year to date, shares of AMD and MU have appreciated 14.6% and 44.6%, respectively. The outperformance in MU can be attributed to rapidly expanding AI-driven memory and storage markets.
Despite AMD's expanding portfolio, the company is suffering from stiff competition in the cloud data center and AI chip markets. The challenging macroeconomic environment also remains a headwind.
AMD and MU Stock Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Valuation-wise, AMD and MU shares are currently overvalued, as suggested by a Value Score of F and C, respectively.
In terms of forward 12-month Price/Sales, AMD shares are trading at 6.52X, higher than MU's 2.90X.
AMD and MU Valuation
How Do Earnings Estimates Compare for AMD & MU?
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AMD's 2025 earnings is pegged at $3.92 per share, which has declined 1.2% over the past 30 days. This indicates an 18.43% increase year over year.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MU's 2025 earnings is pegged at $7.77 per share, which has increased 12.1% over the past 30 days. This indicates a 497.69% increase year over year.
AMD earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the trailing four quarters, delivering an average surprise of 2.30%. MU earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the trailing four quarters, delivering an average surprise of 9.70%. The average surprise of Micron Technology is higher than that of Advanced Micro Devices.
Conclusion
While both AMD and Micron Technology stand to benefit from the AI-driven semiconductor boom, MU appears to have more upside potential. Its higher earnings surprise history, strong earnings growth, expanding HBM demand, and better valuation metrics give MU an edge.
AMD's expanding portfolio and rich partner base are expected to improve its top-line growth. However, AMD has been suffering from stiff competition, particularly from NVIDIA. Export controls on certain Instinct GPUs to China posed a regulatory challenge.
Currently, MU carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), making the stock a stronger pick than AMD, which has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
5 Stocks Set to Double
Each was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in the coming year. While not all picks can be winners, previous recommendations have soared +112%, +171%, +209% and +232%.
Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.
Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD): Free Stock Analysis Report
Micron Technology, Inc. (MU): Free Stock Analysis Report
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