Two of the biggest beneficiaries of the artificial intelligence investment boom delivered a fresh vote of confidence in the sector after the US market closed on Tuesday.
Both Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) and Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ:SMCI) rallied after-hours on 3 November 2026 after delivering results and forecasts that suggest demand for AI infrastructure is accelerating. For investors, the bigger question is whether earnings growth can justify increasingly demanding valuations.
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| Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) | Price: $514.45 (+6.3% after-hours) | Market cap: $789.95bn |
| Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ:SMCI) | Price: $34.05 (+8.5% after-hours) | Market cap: ~$20.62bn |
Both beat Wall Street expectations, with particularly strong forward guidance suggesting that spending on AI chips, servers and data centres remains exceptionally strong.
AMD shares climbed more than 6% in after-hours trading, having closed at $483.90, while Super Micro rallied nearly 9% from its $31.39 closing price.
The results are important because they offer evidence that the AI investment boom is translating into substantial revenues for companies supplying the underlying infrastructure – rather than simply benefiting the largest technology platforms.
1. AMD: Lisa Su signals more than 80% growth in 2027
AMD delivered a strong third quarter, with revenue increasing 45% year-on-year to $13.38bn, while adjusted earnings per share rose 74% to $2.09.
Both figures exceeded analyst expectations.
| AMD Q3 2026 | Reported |
| Revenue | $13.38bn |
| Revenue growth | 45% |
| Data centre revenue | $8.5bn |
| Data centre growth | 97% |
| Adjusted EPS | $2.09 |
| Adjusted gross margin | 56% |
The standout performance was its data centre division, where revenue almost doubled to $8.5bn, driven by demand for Instinct AI accelerators and EPYC server processors.
CEO Lisa Su said:
‘We delivered a record quarter with revenue exceeding the high end of our guidance as Data Center segment sales nearly doubled year-over-year.’
However, the biggest share price catalyst was management’s outlook.
AMD forecast Q4 revenue of approximately $17bn, plus or minus 3%, representing 66% annual growth and a 27% sequential increase.
More significantly, Su told analysts that AMD could achieve revenue growth of more than 80% in 2027, substantially exceeding its previous long-term growth ambition of 35% or more.
Analyst Patrick Moorhead suggested this could translate into more than $94bn of revenue, compared with Wall Street’s previous expectation of approximately $89.9bn.
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That would represent a significant upward revision to the earnings potential investors are currently pricing in.
2. Super Micro: AI server revenues almost quadruple
While AMD designs the processors powering AI infrastructure, Super Micro supplies the servers and complete rack-scale systems needed to deploy them.
Its results were arguably even more spectacular.
Super Micro reported fiscal Q1 2027 revenue of $19.95bn, up 298% year-on-year, comfortably exceeding analyst expectations of $16.81bn.
| SMCI Q1 FY2027 | Reported | Analyst consensus |
| Revenue | $19.95bn | $16.81bn |
| Adjusted EPS | $1.81 | $1.23 |
| Adjusted EBITDA | $2.23bn | $1.55bn |
| Operating margin | 10.4% | — |
CEO Charles Liang highlighted the company’s transformation into a comprehensive AI infrastructure supplier, saying:
‘Supermicro’s transformation into a Total AI and IT Datacenter Solution provider continues to accelerate.’
The company is benefiting from demand for complete AI server platforms, including systems incorporating Nvidia processors, networking and liquid-cooling technology.
But the biggest catalyst was its upgraded guidance.
Super Micro now expects:
- Second-quarter revenue of $19.5bn-$21.5bn, against analyst expectations of approximately $17.4bn.
- Second-quarter adjusted EPS of $1.66-$1.90, against consensus of $1.14.
- Full-year revenue of $72bn-$82bn, representing a substantial increase on its previous outlook.
The analyst reaction was enthusiastic. World Trade Securities CIO Nicholas Mugalli described the results as:
‘One of the best prints of the season.’
He maintained an Overweight rating and $45 price target, arguing that the strength of the results could shift attention away from previous governance concerns and historically thin margins.
3. Are the shares still attractively valued?
Despite the rallies, valuation remains an important consideration.
AMD: Before the earnings reaction, AMD traded at approximately 32x forward earnings, with a market capitalisation of around $762bn.
That is a premium valuation, but one that could become easier to justify if the company achieves its projected 80%-plus revenue growth in 2027.
For comparison, Reuters reported Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) trading at approximately 14x forward earnings, highlighting the premium investors currently place on AMD’s growth prospects.
Super Micro: Its valuation looks considerably cheaper on headline sales multiples. Its approximately $20bn market capitalisation compares with projected annual revenue of $72bn-$82bn.
However, investors should not confuse rapid revenue growth with equally rapid profit growth.
Server manufacturing is a competitive, capital-intensive business with relatively thin margins. Super Micro must demonstrate that it can convert its enormous sales pipeline into sustainable profits and cash flow.
Its latest quarter still produced negative free cash flow of approximately $476m, despite the dramatic improvement in revenue.
4. What should investors watch next?
There are five important developments to monitor:
1. AMD’s 2027 growth trajectory: Can Lisa Su deliver more than 80% revenue growth, particularly as new Helios rack-scale systems enter production?
2. Nvidia competition: AMD needs to demonstrate that its Instinct GPUs can win meaningful market share from Nvidia, supported by improvements to its ROCm software ecosystem.
3. Super Micro’s margins: Investors should look beyond revenue and monitor gross margins, operating profitability and cash conversion.
4. AI spending sustainability: Continued investment by Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Meta (NASDAQ:META), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) and OpenAI is essential to sustaining demand for processors and AI servers.
5. Supply constraints: Advanced packaging, high-bandwidth memory and manufacturing capacity could restrict how quickly suppliers fulfil customer orders.
The next major industry catalyst is Nvidia’s scheduled earnings announcement on 17 November, which should provide another indication of the strength of AI infrastructure spending.
Sharesify investor verdict
Bullish fundamentals. The results from AMD and Super Micro provide further evidence that the AI infrastructure boom is generating substantial commercial returns for semiconductor and server suppliers.
AMD is particularly interesting because its growth is increasingly extending beyond traditional PC processors into AI accelerators and data centre CPUs. Its potential to become a more credible Nvidia competitor gives it considerable longer-term opportunities.
Super Micro offers more direct exposure to the physical infrastructure underpinning AI, but its low-margin business model, cash-flow requirements and historical governance concerns make it a higher-risk investment.
The biggest takeaway: investors should not simply ask whether AI spending is growing. They should focus on which companies can translate that spending into sustainable earnings and free cash flow.
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Both businesses have delivered encouraging evidence. However, after substantial share-price appreciation, particularly in AMD, investors should be careful about chasing the initial earnings reaction.
UK investors should also remember that both shares are US-dollar denominated, meaning sterling exchange-rate movements can affect returns held in a Stocks & Shares ISA or SIPP.
Disclaimer: The author Steven Frazer has a personal interest in Nvidia.
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