TMTPOST -- It seems still hard for Advanced Micro Devices Inc. to tell the recovery trend of sales in China, even though the U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) chip titan expects the Trump administration to greenlight exports of its chips tailored to the market and issued upbeat revenue outlook for the current quarter.
Credit：AMD
AMD on Tuesday posted mixed results for the second quarter of this year. Revenue rose 32% year-over-year (YoY) to a new record of $7.69 billion, topping analysts estimated $7.43 billion. Diluted earnings per share (EPS) under non-GAAP basis was $0.48, just shy of Wall Street expectation of $0.49. That represented a 30% YoY decline in EPS after a 55% YoY increase three months ago. Operating income fell 29% YoY to $897 million, missing estimated $902.8 million after a 57% YoY surge for the previous quarter.
AMD’s bottom line was hit by the U.S. government’s tightening control on AI chip exports to China. The company in April disclosed the Trump administration effectively banned it from selling its MI308 chips to Chinese customers, which the company said led to inventory and related charges of approximately $800 million for the quarter ended in June.
AMD reported on Tuesday that adjusted gross margins on non- GAAP basis shed 10 percentage points YoY to 43% for the June quarter due to the export restrictions. Excluding the charge, adjusted gross margins would've been 54%, in line with the preceding two quarters, AMD estimated in April.
AMD CEO Lisa Su said her company delivered strong revenue growth in the second quarter led by record server and PC processor sales. Though AMD’s top segment Data Center was also dragged by the export control. Revenue from the segment gained 14% YoY to $3.2 billion following a 57% YoY rise for from January to March. The growth was driven by strong demand for AMD EPYC processors, which more than offset “headwinds impacting AMD Instinct MI308 shipments to China.”
Looking forward the third quarter, AMD saw top line to maintain double-digit growth but declined to give forecast of MI308 sales in China. It projected revenue for from July to September to be around between $8.4 billion to $9.0 billion, setting the new quarterly record. At the mid-point of the revenue range, this represents YoY growth of approximately 28% and sequential growth of about 13%. Non-GAAP gross margin is anticipated to be around 54%, up from 43% for the June quarter.
But AMD noted the aforementioned guidance didn’t reflect any MI308 sales. “Our current outlook does not include any revenue from AMD Instinct MI308 shipments to China as our license applications are currently under review by the U.S. Government,” said the company in a statement.
The guidance indicated AMD still can not determine how soon MI308 sales would recover once the Trump administration granted export license for the chips. AMD at mid-July said it received Washington’s assurances from the U.S. Commerce Department and plans to restart shipments of its MI308 chips to China once licenses for sales are approved.
“We appreciate the focus the Trump administration is placing on ensuring that US technology remains central to global AI infrastructure and we expect to resume MI308 shipments as licenses are approved, subject to end customer demand and supply chain readiness,” AMD CEO Su on Tuesday said on a conference call with analysts. “As our licenses are still under review, we are not including any MI308 revenue in our third-quarter guidance.”
Despite the uncertain MI308 sales, Su expressed optimistic on overall revenue for remaining two quarters of this year. “We are seeing robust demand across our computing and AI product portfolio and are well positioned to deliver significant growth in the second half of the year, driven by the ramp of our AMD Instinct MI350 series accelerators and ongoing EPYC and Ryzen processor share gains,” said Su in a statement.
On the earnings call, Su told analysts that MI355, the latest chips AMD released in June, started production in June and is shipping, and that AMD is seeing "really positive" demand from customers. "We're bullish on MI355 and where the AI opportunity is for us," Su said.
AMD expects the MI355 chips are going to ramp very quickly since they will be attractive to customers, according to Su. She said MI400 series of accelerators, which are set to roll out next year, are also seeing positive feedback from customers.
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