AMD $AMD crushed expectations: Q1 2026 delivers 38% revenue growth and an explosion in datacenters

AMD, after the market close, released results for Q1 2026 that significantly beat analysts' expectations. Revenue rose 38% to $10.3 billion versus $7.44 billion a year ago, while the consensus had only expected $9.89 billion.

Shares gain 4.83% in after-hours trading!

Adjusted earnings per share reached $1.37, beating estimates of $1.29. Net income jumped from $709 million ($0.44 per share) a year ago to $1.38 billion ($0.84 per share).

Datacenters are leading the show

The Data Center segment grew 57% to $5.8 billion from last year's $3.67 billion. The growth is driven by EPYC processors and increasing shipments of Instinct GPU accelerators, with customer demand continuing to rise.

That's exactly what Wall Street wanted to see: AMD is finally pulling in the same direction as Nvidia $NVDA in the AI chips segment.

Q2 2026: Management is aiming even higher

For Q2 2026 AMD expects revenue of approximately $11.2 billion (± $300 million) and a non-GAAP gross margin of around 56%. It also forecasts roughly 46% year-over-year revenue growth.

What to do with $AMD?

Shares $AMD have more than tripled in value over the past year. Year-to-date performance alone (including the current post-earnings move) is 75%.

Market capitalization has, thanks to the recent surge, for the first time in the company's history surpassed $600 billion. It's a huge gap compared to Nvidia, which sits around $5 trillion, but in terms of growth it's a big leap for AMD.

Does it make sense to keep buying the shares? That's a great question. The potential of $AMD is certainly there. However, a pullback after the explosive gains of recent weeks may occur and could be quite swift. Valuation is quite stretched. Indices are at all-time highs. What's important is each investor's time horizon — depending on that, how radical this decision should be will vary dramatically.