Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) shares tumbled for a second straight session on Thursday, sliding about 3.2% in premarket trading after a 3.5% drop the previous day, as a broad semiconductor sell-off spooked investors. The decline came despite a wave of fresh price-target hikes from Wall Street analysts ahead of the company’s “Advancing AI” event later this month. For the crypto sector, which relies heavily on AMD’s GPUs for mining and artificial intelligence workloads, the stock’s downturn raises questions about the near-term health of the hardware pipeline and potential ripple effects on mining profitability and AI token narratives.
Analysts Stay Bullish, Targets Soar
UBS analyst Timothy Arcuri lifted his 12-month price target to $700 from $670, maintaining a Buy rating, citing supply-chain checks that signal accelerating AI accelerator demand through 2027. He expects AMD’s event to detail the MI450X accelerator, the 2027 MI500 GPU family, and Venice and Verano server CPUs, with Amazon seen as a major MI450X customer. If AMD locks in three hyperscale customers deploying over one gigawatt each, GPU revenue could hit $40–$50 billion in 2027, the analyst said.
Rosenblatt’s Kevin Cassidy reiterated Buy and raised his target to $665 from $490, branding AMD as his “Top Pick” ahead of Q2 earnings on August 4. He projects over 70% year-over-year revenue growth for EPYC server CPUs and sees AMD’s Venice chip seizing the high-end server lead from Intel. KeyBanc’s John Vinh was even more aggressive, bumping his target to $725 from $530, forecasting AI GPU revenue of $16.8 billion in 2026 and $48.5 billion in 2027, with the MI455 and Helios ramps on track for the second half of 2026.
Why Are Shares Falling?
The sell-off reflects a wider rotation out of semiconductor stocks. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index has slumped 16.5% from its June 22 high, and the Roundhill Memory ETF is down about 30% from its peak. TSMC’s raised capital spending also revived fears of overcapacity. For crypto miners, the drop in chip stocks often signals softer near-term demand for GPUs, which can impact mining equipment availability and pricing. If AMD’s valuation—now trading at 33 times 2027 earnings, per William Blair—is assuming near-perfect execution, any slippage in its AI roadmap could intensify the rout and weigh on tokens tied to mining and AI infrastructure.
Despite the sell-off, AMD’s fundamentals remain robust. Q1 revenue rose 38% year-over-year to $10.3 billion, with Data Center revenue jumping 57% to $58 billion. Q2 revenue is guided to around $11.2 billion, and consensus calls for a 235% EPS surge. The stock is still up 147% year-to-date. For crypto market participants, AMD’s trajectory remains a key indicator of GPU supply dynamics and the health of the AI sector, which increasingly intersects with blockchain projects.
