AMD Defies Market Sell-Off Amid S&P 500 Drop

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) declined by 5% in March amid rising oil prices and economic concerns, but Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) bucked the trend with a 2.5% monthly gain. The semiconductor company is gaining traction in the data center GPU market, a key segment for artificial intelligence development. AMD began selling AI GPUs for data centers in 2023 with its MI300 chip and has since launched multiple new generations. While still trailing Nvidia in performance, AMD has secured major clients including OpenAI, Oracle, Microsoft, and Meta Platforms. In the second half of 2026, AMD will begin shipping its MI450 GPUs, which will be integrated into a data center rack called Helios. This system is expected to offer 36 times more performance than previous generations and 50% more memory capacity than Nvidia's upcoming Vera Rubin GPU. Meta and OpenAI plan to deploy 6 gigawatts of computing capacity using AMD GPUs over the next several years. AMD's data center business generated $16.6 billion in revenue in 2025, up 32% from the prior year. CEO Lisa Su forecasts 60% annual growth for the data center segment over the next three to five years. However, concerns remain about OpenAI's ability to fulfill its $300 billion in GPU commitments to Oracle and Microsoft, given its $25 billion in annualized revenue and ongoing losses. AMD's stock currently trades at a P/E ratio of 48.7 based on 2025 adjusted earnings of $4.17 per share.