Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD)

Very promising graphics and good overall management

They're the only desktop CPU designer that is also competent in graphics. As integrating CPU & GPU on the same chip becomes more popular over the next few years, they will dominate Intel in that field. Intel integrated graphics has never had decent quality or decent driver support. Also, Intel can't allow AMD to die off or else they would face antitrust concerns. So Intel will keep its prices high enough for AMD to be profitable. AMD's graphics tech has parity with nVidia which is over 15B market cap almost entirely from selling graphics. ARM is trying to move into desktops, but their CPUs have pathetically low performance compared to anything from Intel or AMD. Their only strength is low power.

For a long, long time, I have felt that AMD is lagging behind Intel, and I still do. I always opt for Intel products even if I have to pay substantially more, and Intel is becoming a giant in its industry. I would not be surprised to see AMD go under with its close to 0% profit margin and over 1.0 debt to equity. Of course, much of this is factored into the price, so if AMD can recover, shareholders will be handsomely rewarded. I just don't see a path.

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2012/01/25/its-time-to-take-action-on-amd.aspx

There are no sure bets in life, or the stock market. AMD's road to solid investment returns is far from clear, but the company has a lot of levers to pull. Moreover, Intel and other bellwethers are sending clear signals that the semiconductor market is due for a general upturn, which would lift this little boat too.

So I'm taking a chance on AMD by placing a thumbs-up CAPScall on the stock today. AMD has treated my All-Star CAPS portfolio very well in the past -- I closed out my last position at a 146% gain for a net score of 107.

The new CEO's (from Lenovo) track record is noteable, especially in terms of operations and sales! He should be able to help AMD increase revenue and profit in the CPU/APU/ARM market. AMD's new product-lines appear to be gaining traction with consumers again, but management needs to invest (R&D) ARM chipsets in order to leap frog Intel in terms of mobile processor technology. Integration with other broadline semiconductors would be another competative advantage.

AMD is burdened by heavy debt, its products often come through the gate late, and -- worst of all -- its main competitor is a wealthy and seasoned monster. There was a time in the 1990s that, despite a far inferior R&D, it was able to outpace INTC, but R&D is the lifeblood in this game and it was only a matter of time that AMD sank. Will non-cpu chips and boards sustain AMD? Perhaps. But we are talking about survival and not thriving, and I'd put my money in the SP500 index any day over this chip designer.

I run AMD stock for it's cycles, I choose a price and buy any time it drops below that price and sell any time it goes above that price. I do not try to guess the high point or the low point.

Continue to increase share count. Has doubled in the past ten years, and thats even after a 2:1 split in 2000. No dividend. Attempting to compete with Intel and NVIDIA.

AMD are making razor thin profits on their CPUs with their ATI graphics line doing marginally well. In both industries, AMD is facing stiff competition compounded by the recent news in the hard drive industry. Less hard drives = less OEMs = less profit for all. AMD will be having rough days for quite a bit longer.

Yeah, they got beated pretty bad for the past 15 yrs by INTC, but they are beating INTC into the mobile, low power processor market, where the biggest growth as mobile outgrows PC's, and will see revenues spike as soon as the piece together supply chains that can keep up with mobile growth in Asia. Valuation will improve as profits grow.

They are expanding to the cloud market which will become big in the future. They are a seasoned and veteran company when it comes down to the technology business and will employ the highest standards when developing for emerging markets, cloud, and competitiveness for CPUs.

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2011/11/30/where-is-amd-going.aspx

Where Is AMD Going?

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD ) is in a bit of a quandary right about now. The company is at a pivotal crossroads as it embarks on a new strategy, and so far its moves are making a doubter out of me -- so much so that I'm going to go ahead and give AMD a CAPScall today that it will underperform the broader market going forward.

Bold news or a cold fuse?
Earlier this month, AMD announced an oxymoronic strategic update aimed at cutting down its cost structure and simultaneously investing in innovation. I'm not alone in my skepticism: Fellow Fool Anders Bylund agrees.

The 10% workforce reduction and contract terminations are supposed to save $118 million next year, while it focuses on "lower power, emerging markets, and the cloud." Taking the cost savings and plugging those dollars into new initiatives sounds fine and dandy on paper, but in reality that's a tall order to fill, and I have doubts on AMD's ability to deliver.

An AMD sandwich
CPUs are the bulk of the company's sales, comprising more than three-quarters of revenue last quarter, with the remaining quarter coming from its Graphics segment. AMD's processor business is being squeezed from both sides, with Intel (Nasdaq: INTC ) putting pressure on the high end and ARM Holdings (Nasdaq: ARMH ) licensees like NVIDIA (Nasdaq: NVDA ) and Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM ) flanking from below with low-power offerings.

For the longest time, it primarily butted heads with Intel in the x86 battleground for PCs, but AMD is trying to put that mentality in the rearview mirror. AMD spokesman Mike Silverman recently said, "We will all need to let go of the old 'AMD versus Intel' mindset, because it won't be about that anymore."

The recently launched Bulldozer architecture has failed to impress when pitted against Intel's Sandy Bridge. Intel is working on its Ivy Bridge and Haswell next-gen architectures, and the Haswell chips scheduled for 2013 boast up to a 30% reduction in power consumption compared with Sandy Bridge.

AMD ex-CEO Dirk Meyer was ditched for neglecting the mobile market, which is currently dominated by the ARM army. Concentrating on "low power" and "the cloud" sure sounds an awful lot like mobile if you ask me, but AMD is promising more details in a February strategic update.

In the meantime, AMD remains committed to its x86 architecture even as Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT ) Windows on ARM promises to provide an inlet to the PC market for the ARMed forces.

Bigger fish
AMD also has a graphics business from its acquisition of ATI years ago and has since rebranded its Radeon and FirePro offerings under the AMD name. AMD had even won the almighty Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL ) business from NVIDIA, but Cupertino is rumored to be switching back even after it went all-AMD briefly.

The segment's numbers also aren't worth calling home about. Last quarter's graphics operating income was just $12 million on revenue of $403 million, representing an operating margin of less than 3%. For the first three quarters of its fiscal 2011, graphics revenue has shrunk by 5% and graphics operating income has fallen 70%, when compared with the same period a year ago.

In a move announced just this week that has me scratching my head, AMD is introducing its own branded line of RAM memory modules. It's partnering with Patriot Memory and VisionTek, which really just means it will be using their sticks and slapping on an AMD-branded seal of approval after running some tests.

The memory market is mostly commoditized and plagued by oversaturation, and prices are at record lows. Positioning itself in the middle of an unattractive market to extract some value out of testing for compatibility seems like a misguided use of resources, considering it has bigger fish to fry right now.

Need more?
AMD has never really commanded leadership in its core PC processor market and has always walked in Intel's shadow. The company's CPU business is being pinched on both ends of the spectrum and has a lot of ground to cover if it hopes to become relevant in either direction. It trades design wins in the GPU market with NVIDIA, and that segment's overall results are uninspiring.

Just as I've recently given NVIDIA an outperform CAPScall largely because of its mobile strategy and new areas of growth, I'm giving AMD an underperform CAPScall for lacking one while its existing businesses are mostly flat at best.

A few options here. They go out of business, get bought out, or come back with guns blazing. I'm thinking something along the lines of the later two. In real life I favor intel/NVIDIA though.

Undervalued Stock at this time. I think AMD will come back stronger based on sales and backorders

Over sold based on current market valuations vs long term outlook, short and long term buy at $5.46 as of 02Nov2011 closing price. Running heads up with Nvidia in the video card market with ATI line. Forward looking to 20nm chip sets as well as the Bulldozer CPU results.

|| AMD Bulldozer CPU beats world record again achieving 8.461GHz ||

http://www.geek.com/articles/chips/amd-bulldozer-cpu-beats-world-record-again-achieving-8-461ghz-2011111/

At one point this horse whipping has to end.

Alternative to other multicore CPUs, x64 technology, Apple will eventually have other CPU than Intel to choose from

amd is way undervalued. Theres really only one other competition and thats Intel. So the market has room for both to prosper

TM likes it as the 2nd largest chipmaker and a penny stock. Will be bought soon, possibly by Oracle.