Intel vs. Advanced Micro Devices: Shifting Trends in Revenue

The bigger company by revenue doesn’t always point you to the best stock to buy. The comparison between Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) is a good example of why.

Intel has controlled the lion’s share of the central processing unit (CPU) market for decades, particularly in the desktop market. But the chart below shows AMD growing its quarterly revenue significantly faster. This reflects AMD’s gaining share against Intel across consumer and server segments in the last several years.

Intel: Navigating a Stagnant Revenue Trend

Intel primarily earns revenue by designing, manufacturing, and selling CPUs, system-on-chip packages, and workload-optimized compute solutions to original equipment manufacturers, government entities, and global cloud service providers.

While it reported a net income margin of about -2% for the quarter ended Dec. 27, 2025, there have been positive developments this year. It moved to regain ownership of its Ireland manufacturing facility from a joint venture partner — a signal that Intel’s financial position is strengthening. It also announced a deeper partnership with Alphabet’s Google to advance AI infrastructure using its Xeon and custom infrastructure chips.

Advanced Micro Devices: Sustaining Upward Revenue Momentum

AMD generates revenue by providing a wide array of CPUs, graphics processing units (GPUs), and semi-custom products to original design manufacturers, public cloud service providers, and independent distributors.

Along with posting a net income margin of approximately 16% for the quarter ended Dec. 27, 2025, it recently executed several infrastructure agreements to deploy hardware architectures. It introduced new desktop processors for consumer and business users.

Why Revenue Matters for Retail Investors

Revenue is a fundamental metric that shows how much money a business brings in from its operations before costs or taxes. AMD’s revenue is steadily growing, while Intel’s has flattened.

Quarterly Revenue for Intel and Advanced Micro Devices

Data source: Company filings. Data as of April 8, 2026.

Foolish Take

The revenue performance of these two chip companies tells investors the story. AMD has delivered a better cost-performance balance for customers with its CPUs. This is driving much stronger growth as it gains share against Intel.

While Intel is still kicking and supplying chips for AI workloads, AMD still appears to have better prospects. This is evident with deals it has secured with OpenAI and other top AI companies to supply its MI450 graphics processing units (GPUs) when it launches later this year.

A part of AMD’s faster rate of revenue growth reflects the demand for its data center GPUs — a segment of the chip market that Intel has failed to gain meaningful traction in.

Investors will want to watch how new deals impact these companies’ growth. For Intel, it secured financial backing from the U.S. government last year, so it’s certainly not going anywhere. It continues to see demand for chips across data centers, networking, and consumer devices.

For AMD, the upcoming launch of its MI450 data center chip will be a major catalyst, potentially accelerating revenue growth. The demand for its data center GPUs could catapult AMD ahead of Intel in revenue by 2027, according to the consensus analyst estimate.

John Ballard has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, and Intel. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.