Chip maker AMD on Thursday provided third-quarter revenue estimates that were about a billion dollars less than previously forecast, signalling the chip slump could be much worse than expected.
AMD shares dropped 4% in afterhours trading, dragging down shares of Nvidia and Intel by over 2%.
“The PC market weakened significantly in the quarter,” CEO Lisa Su said in a statement, adding that macroeconomic conditions drove PC demand lower than expected.
Runaway inflation and the reopening of offices and schools have led people to spend less on PCs than they did during lockdowns when many bought computers for work and school as they stayed home during the pandemic. Chip makers are also under pressure from Covid curbs in key PC market China, while the Ukraine war has worsened supply-chain snarls and dragged demand further.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which tracks prices of major silicon-producing and allied businesses, has fallen 36.4% this year so far, compared to a 41.2% rise in 2021.
“I think AMD is showing that nobody is safe from the post-pandemic PC downturn, and those inventory corrections are also impacting the company,” said Anshel Sag, chip analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. “Overall, this looks to be more of a cyclical correction within a single, albeit large, business unit rather than a structural or strategic one.”
Su said AMD’s data centre, embedded, and gaming segments maintained strong growth.
The company said it expects third-quarter revenue of about US$5.6-billion. That compares to its forecast in August of $6.7-billion, plus or minus $200-million.
Read: Nvidia forecasts sharp drop in sales as games drag
AMD is the latest chip maker to be hit by the sector’s slump. Last week memory chip maker Micron Technology warned of tougher times and said it was cutting its capex investments in fiscal 2023 by over 30% to a total of $8-billion. Nvidia and Intel both delivered much worse than expected earnings in their latest reports.
AMD said its earnings will be released on 1 November. — Yuvraj Malik and Jane Lanhee Lee, (c) 2022 Reuters