Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) stock fell by nearly 2% in Friday afternoon trading, extending a decline that began on Thursday when the stock closed down 3.46% at $197.74. The drop coincided with an executive sale earlier in the week, where EVP and Chief Strategy Officer Paul Darren Grasby sold 7,500 AMD shares at an average price of $204.87 on March 11, totaling $1.54 million. This transaction represented a 5.47% reduction in his stake, though he still holds 129,598 shares valued at approximately $26.5 million.
The broader semiconductor sector faced significant headwinds from macroeconomic factors. Crude oil prices remained elevated, with Brent crude trading above $101 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate around $96.30, driven by geopolitical tensions in the Strait of Hormuz and U.S. military deployments. This risk-off environment particularly impacted chip stocks, which are often sold first during market rotations away from risk.
Specific concerns for AMD include potential U.S. export controls on AI accelerators, which could require licenses for all such shipments, threatening AMD's aggressive push to expand sales of its MI-series AI processors. Additional competitive pressures emerged from a new Chinese GPU competitor, Lisuan Technology, and Meta's development of in-house AI chips.
Despite these challenges, analyst sentiment remains largely positive. According to Public.com's analyst roundup, AMD carries a consensus Buy rating from 34 analysts, with 41% at Strong Buy, 38% at Buy, and 21% at Hold. The average 12-month price target is approximately $265.18. Individual firm targets vary widely, from Goldman Sachs's neutral rating with a $210 target to Evercore's outperform rating with a $358 target. AMD's most recent quarterly results were strong, with EPS of $1.53 beating estimates of $1.32 and revenue of $10.27 billion, up 34.1% year-over-year.
