Record sales for AMD in Q3 2020

AMD is experiencing its most prosperous period as a company in over a decade. In addition to the $35 billion Xilinx acquisition, AMD posted record revenue performance in the third quarter of 2020.

Analysis of this increase in revenue

This revenue increase is driven by sales of Ryzen processors and chips for next-generation consoles. AMD achieved record revenue of $2.8 billion for Q3 2020. Last year, during the same period, its revenue was around $1.79 billion, representing a net increase of 56%. In Q2 of this year, AMD recorded revenue of $1.93 billion, a growth of 45%. This is a record for AMD, the highest revenue recorded by the company in a decade. This result is primarily due to strong demand from Sony and Microsoft for its CPUs, GPUs, and semi-custom chips for next-generation consoles .

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) for the third quarter reached $1.23 billion, a 58% increase compared to last year. Operating profit was approximately $450 million.

Which sectors are performing best?

The Computer and Graphics Division saw a 31% year-over-year increase. Sales of Ryzen processors were the primary driver of this success. Sales of Radeon graphics are not yet at their peak. Customers are likely awaiting the new generations of cards expected to be released in the coming days. This Computer and Graphics Division recorded a 22% sales increase compared to the second quarter of this year.

The Enterprise Embedded and Semi-Custom Division doubled its sales figures compared to 2019. Sales of semi-custom chips used in next-generation game consoles, as well as EPYC processors for data centers, led to this success for AMD. AMD is experiencing strong demand for these chips from video game manufacturers such as Sony.

AMD's Q4 forecasts

AMD expects to reach $3 billion in revenue for the last quarter of 2020. This figure is quite realistic considering the new products that Lisa Su's sales team will be launching before the end of the year. These include the Radeon 6000 series graphics cards based on the RDNA 2 architecture and the Ryzen processors based on the Zen 3 architecture. Furthermore, the acquisition of Xilinx gives AMD greater brand recognition, allowing it to shine even brighter.

In short, 2020 was a very good year for AMD. The health crisis doesn't seem to have affected this computer and electronics giant.