By Bryan Hayes
Publication Date: 2026-01-23 14:59:00
Healthy competition helps drive innovation and in turn, investor returns.
That’s exactly what we’ve seen between two of the world’s largest chipmakers. The past year has been particularly noteworthy for Advanced Micro Devices, which not only staged a strong recovery but meaningfully outperformed Nvidia, the longtime AI leader.
In terms of percentage returns, AMD shares rose approximately 77% in 2025, nearly doubling Nvidia’s more modest 39% gain. While the two stocks moved in tandem during the first half of the year, the divergence gained steam in the latter half, particularly after AMD inked a multi-year deal to power OpenAI’s next-generation AI infrastructure.
Image Source: StockCharts
AMD CEO Lisa Su referred to the partnership as a “true win-win, enabling the world’s most ambitious AI buildout and advancing the entire AI ecosystem.” The terms of the deal included deploying 6 gigawatts of AMD GPUs.
As we progress into 2026 with AMD trading around $250 per share in mid-January, the stock’s story remains compelling. The company’s disciplined execution and expanding AI footprint provide a sincere opportunity for those seeking exposure to the ongoing data center transformation.
AMD’s ascent in 2025 stemmed from a confluence of factors that highlighted its evolution from a perennial challenger to a credible threat in high-performance computing. The data center segment, now the…
