Guidance Upside Drives Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Higher, Hurting Non Owners

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) experienced a surge in its stock price, driven by robust earnings and positive guidance, causing non-owners of the semiconductor company to miss out on gains. This positive momentum was largely attributed to the accelerating demand for AI and data center chips, which benefitted AMD's graphics processing units and central processing units.

The company, ranked 20th on the list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026, saw a significant increase in interest from hedge funds, with 164 portfolios holding AMD at the end of the second quarter, up from 134 in the previous quarter. Despite the overall outperformance of growth and AI stocks over value stocks and large-cap companies over small- and mid-cap stocks, American Century Investments Focused Dynamic Growth Fund, which owns AMD, considers other AI stocks to have greater upside potential and lower downside risk.