By Adam Spatacco
Publication Date: 2026-09-29 14:15:00
As of the closing bell on Sept. 25, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD +1.39%) finished the week reaching a historic milestone: the semiconductor company punched its ticket to the $1 trillion club. AMD stock has rallied 195% this year while its rival, Nvidia (NVDA +0.29%), has gained closer to 20%.
The disparity between these share price gains feels backwards. Nvidia is bigger than AMD, and it is growing faster. This gap presents an interesting argument right now: is the market overpaying for AMD because it suddenly has a cleaner story, or has AMD’s stock price gotten ahead of the company’s earnings? Let’s dig in and find out.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Why AMD stock is beating Nvidia in 2026
After an uninspiring 2025, AMD spent the last year landing hyperscaler deals and convincing investors that its Instinct accelerators are no longer an afterthought next to Nvidia. Revenue in the most recent quarter reached $11.5 billion, up about 50% year over year. That is real growth, but it’s nowhere near Nvidia.
Nvidia’s last quarter featured $96 billion in sales, with the data center segment alone contributing $89 billion and growing 117% year over year. Over the last year, profitability is in a different universe: AMD has made about $6.5 billion in net income over the past 12 months, while Nvidia has generated closer to $193 billion.
NVDA Net Income (TTM) data by YCharts
These figures prove that AMD is not winning meaningful business over Nvidia. Rather, it is simply winning the…
