Why Advanced Micro Devices Stock Crumbled on Tuesday

Key Points

• A major tech industry investor is plowing $2 billion into a U.S. microchip company.

• That company isn't AMD, however.

• 10 stocks we like better than Advanced Micro Devices ›

On Tuesday, the No. 1 tech sector, water cooler conversation item was a giant financial company's investment into a major American chip maker.

Unfortunately for shareholders of American Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD), their company wasn't the one chosen by the suitor. With many investors surely feeling left out, they assertively traded out of AMD stock, leaving it with a more than 5% loss on the day. The S&P 500 index also declined, but its fall was far less steep at 0.6%.

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Taking the decision hard

The company doing the investing was SoftBank, and its target was not AMD but the U.S. company's longtime rival Intel.

Image source: Getty Images.

After market close Monday, SoftBank announced that they had signed an agreement with Intel to invest $2 billion in the latter's common stock. That shakes out to $23 per each of the chip maker's shares, so it was hardly surprising that Intel vaulted past that level with a nearly 7% rise.

At a stroke, the deal makes SoftBank an important institutional investor in Intel (it'll be the fifth-largest investor overall). All told, it will hold around 2% of the American company.

For better and for worse, chip makers in this country have been flagged as businesses that could help widen the U.S. manufacturing base. This is a key goal of the Trump administration and a leading reason for its recent efforts to levy tariffs on the top trading partners of this country.

Knee-jerk reaction

Intel had been struggling more than AMD recently, so in many ways it's a more appropriate recipient of a chunky investment. That said, $2 billion is a large amount of capital for a company of any size, so that "shunned fiancé" feeling is completely understandable. It doesn't, however, change the outlook much for AMD, so perhaps the Tuesday slump will provide a good buying opportunity in the stock.

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Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices and Intel. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: short August 2025 $24 calls on Intel. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.