Intel jumps, AMD rises after Bank of America highlights a large server-CPU spending outlook

Intel shares jumped about 8% in Thursday’s early trading to roughly $115, while Advanced Micro Devices rose about 4% to around $470, according to market coverage. The moves came after Bank of America drew attention to a large spending outlook for server central processing units, or CPUs, with the bank citing an estimated $170 billion market opportunity tied to server workloads.

The call helped lift both companies even though the two chip designers are often discussed in the context of competing for data center share, particularly in the market for enterprise servers and cloud infrastructure. Server CPUs are the core compute chips inside servers used by internet companies, enterprises, and governments to run services ranging from search and storage to artificial intelligence workloads.

The market reaction also reflected a broader pattern of sensitivity in semiconductors to forward expectations around data center demand. The coverage noted that both chip stocks were rebounding after a rough period earlier, suggesting investors were looking for signs that spending on server compute, not just consumer devices, would remain resilient.

Bank of America’s framing focused attention on the scale of server-CPU spending rather than changes to any single product cycle. The reporting did not provide additional specifics on the bank’s assumptions, such as what portion of the $170 billion forecast is tied to new server builds versus refresh cycles, or how much of that spending is expected to be influenced by particular CPU generations or platform transitions.

For Intel, any positive read-through from a server-CPU spending outlook tends to matter because the company competes directly for deployments at major cloud providers and large enterprises, where CPU procurement can be influenced by performance per watt, platform compatibility, and ecosystem readiness. For AMD, the same data center spend narrative often ties back to its success in winning sockets across mainstream and high-performance server configurations.

In sector terms, the $170 billion figure underscores how much of the industry’s near- and mid-term focus remains on data center investment. Even as AI accelerators gain mindshare, CPU and system-level compute capacity remains foundational to running AI training and inference pipelines, and companies continue to build server fleets that integrate CPUs as the control plane for workloads.

One notable gap is what Intel and AMD themselves disclosed in the reporting period. The coverage pointed to the Bank of America call as the driver of the price reaction, but it did not describe new earnings, new product announcements, or updated guidance from either company. Without official statements, the durability of the move will depend on whether investors continue to see strong demand indicators and whether subsequent company updates align with the bank’s outlook.

What to watch next is whether this optimism translates into follow-through from analysts and whether either company’s next disclosure cycle offers more granular indicates on server CPU traction, pricing, and customer schedules. If market participants shift from a high-level spending forecast to concrete evidence such as order momentum or margin commentary, the rally tied to the $170 billion estimate could gain staying power.