AMD (AMD) Gets Boost to $100 Target on AI Hopes, HSBC Upgrade
HSBC upgraded Advanced Micro Devices (AMD, Financials) to Hold from Sell and raised its price target to $100 from $75. The call comes on the back of strong Q1 results and fresh optimism around AI and global trade.
Warning! GuruFocus has detected 3 Warning Signs with AMD.
Analyst Frank Lee pointed to AMD's rebound in data center revenue and a new U.S.-Saudi AI partnership as signs of improving momentum. He also flagged easing tariff tensions and upcoming AI chip launches as potential tailwinds.
Lee called AMD's AI exposure appealing over the long term, even as the stock remains a hold for now. Investors are watching how well AMD delivers on its AI roadmap and how it stacks up against Intel (INTC, Financials).
This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Insider
30 minutes ago
- Business Insider
Cathie Wood's ARK Investment buys 53.1K shares of AMD today
20:09 EDT Cathie Wood's ARK Investment buys 53.1K shares of AMD (AMD) today Confident Investing Starts Here: Easily unpack a company's performance with TipRanks' new KPI Data for smart investment decisions Receive undervalued, market resilient stocks right to your inbox with TipRanks' Smart Value Newsletter Published first on TheFly – the ultimate source for real-time, market-moving breaking financial news. Try Now>>
Yahoo
43 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Tariffs, North Korea Cast Shadow Over Lee's First Day in Office
(Bloomberg) -- South Korea's newly elected President Lee Jae-myung took office with a pledge to revive a national economy threatened by Donald Trump's tariffs just as the US president doubled duties on steel and aluminum, highlighting the pressing challenges facing the Asian leader. Where the Wild Children's Museums Are Billionaire Steve Cohen Wants NY to Expand Taxpayer-Backed Ferry The Global Struggle to Build Safer Cars At London's New Design Museum, Visitors Get Hands-On Access LA City Council Passes Budget That Trims Police, Fire Spending 'We will start by restoring people's livelihoods and reviving the economy,' Lee said at an inauguration ceremony at the National Assembly in Seoul on Wednesday, hours after he won the country's presidential election. 'We will revive the virtuous cycle of the economy by using the national budget as a catalyst.' Lee's first day in office was greeted by Trump's raising of import taxes on steel and aluminum to 50% from 25%. South Korea also faces a 25% across-the-board levy that was later temporarily reduced to 10% for 90 days, in addition to sectoral tariffs imposed on cars, steel and aluminum. Trade talks with the US will provide an early test of Lee's ability to balance foreign policy ties with domestic concerns, with exports equivalent to more than 40% of South Korea's gross domestic product. Lee, who is expected to speak to Trump soon, has said policymakers shouldn't rush into a deal with the US. Lee earlier said he'd 'crawl through Trump's legs if needed' to get a good deal for South Korea. Tuesday's vote was largely seen as a referendum on Lee's ousted predecessor's botched attempt to impose martial law in the longstanding US ally. Lee won the race with 49.4% of the vote, a comfortable victory over the conservative People Power Party's Kim Moon-soo, though not the landslide that looked possible earlier in the year. On the campaign trail, Lee said he would use up to 35 trillion won ($25.4 billion) in a stimulus package if elected to provide aid to households and businesses. That was already an increase from the 30 trillion won figure he started the campaign with. The sense that Lee's administration will be looser on fiscal policy than Yoon Suk Yeol's appeared to ripple through bond markets, pushing the price of 10-year futures on government debt down by more than 100 basis points. Still, stock investors cheered the prospect of a return to political stability and corporate governance reforms. The Kospi Index jumped as much as 2.5% on Wednesday, taking its gain from the April low to more than 20% as investors piled into potential beneficiaries of Lee's reform and growth agenda. In a speech heavy on rhetoric about uniting the nation, Lee also vowed to continue efforts to step up trilateral cooperation with the US and Japan based on a strong alliance with the US and a practical approach to diplomacy. But in a departure from the Yoon administration's hardline stance on North Korea, Lee said South Korea will seek to restore communication channels with North Korea. Any dialogue would take place from a position of strength he said, adding that South Korea's defense budget is twice the size of North Korea's economy. 'No matter how expensive peace is, it is better than war,' Lee said. 'It is better to win without fighting than to win by fighting, and the most reliable security comes from a peace without the need to fight.' The US congratulated Lee on his victory and pledged to continue coordinating security efforts in a bid to modernize their alliance. 'The United States and the Republic of Korea share an ironclad commitment to the Alliance grounded in our Mutual Defense Treaty, shared values, and deep economic ties,' US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. 'We will also continue to deepen U.S.-Japan-ROK trilateral cooperation to bolster regional security, enhance economic resilience, and defend our shared democratic principles.' Demonstrating the pressing security challenges facing the new leader, a top security aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Sergei Shoigu, arrived in Pyongyang for talks with North Korea's Kim Jong Un, Tass reported Wednesday. Shoigu's visit, following his March trip during which he briefed Kim on US-brokered negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, comes two days after Moscow and Kyiv agreed on a new exchange of prisoners during their second round of peace talks in Istanbul. Shoigu and Kim are set to discuss the situation around Ukraine and bilateral military ties, including 'immortalizing' North Korean troops who fought against Ukraine alongside Russian troops, Interfax said. Kim has emerged as a key ally of Putin since they struck a military treaty a year ago, and his deployment of soldiers raised concerns about the North Korean military's exposure to the real-world and modern combat experience. Lee appointed Wi Sung-lac, a member of his Democratic Party who was once South Korea's top nuclear negotiator with North Korea, as his national security advisor. Lee's top campaign aide and DP lawmaker Kim Min-seok was nominated as the prime minister and Lee Jong-seok, who served as South Korea's unification minister in 2006, was named the country's spy agency chief. --With assistance from Jaehyun Eom, Youkyung Lee and Sanjit Das. (Updates with statement from US Secretary of State Rubio.) YouTube Is Swallowing TV Whole, and It's Coming for the Sitcom Millions of Americans Are Obsessed With This Japanese Barbecue Sauce Is Elon Musk's Political Capital Spent? Trump Considers Deporting Migrants to Rwanda After the UK Decides Not To Mark Zuckerberg Loves MAGA Now. Will MAGA Ever Love Him Back? ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Sign in to access your portfolio
Hamilton Spectator
2 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
South Korea's new President Lee vows to pursue talks with North and bolster ties with US and Japan
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea's new President Lee Jae-myung vowed Wednesday to restart dormant talks with North Korea and bolster a trilateral partnership with the U.S. and Japan, as he laid out key policy goals for his single, five-year term. Lee, who rose from childhood poverty to become South Korea's leading liberal politician vowing to fight inequality and corruption, formally began his term earlier Wednesday, hours after winning a snap election that was triggered in April by the removal of then-President Yoon Suk Yeol over his ill-fated imposition of martial law late last year. In his inaugural address at the National Assembly, Lee said that his government will deal with North Korean nuclear threats and its potential military aggressions with 'strong deterrence' based on the solid South Korea-U.S. military alliance. But he said he would 'open a communication channel with North Korea and establish peace on the Korean Peninsula through talks and cooperation.' He said he'll pursue pragmatic diplomacy with neighboring countries and boost trilateral Seoul-Washington-Tokyo cooperation based on the robust South Korea-U.S. alliance. 'Through pragmatic diplomacy based on national interests, we will turn the crisis posed by the major shift in global economic and security landscapes into an opportunity to maximize our national interests,' Lee said. Security and economic challenges lie ahead It was unclear whether Lee's election would cause any major, immediate shift in South Korea's foreign policy. Lee, previously accused by critics of tilting toward China and North Korea and away from the U.S. and Japan, has recently repeatedly stressed South Korea's alliance with the U.S. as the foundation of its foreign policy and avoided any contentious remarks that would raise questions on his views on the U.S. and Japan. 'We'll have to now see if the pressures of office will cause Lee Jae-myung to govern from the center — at least when it comes to matters of national security and the alliance with the United States,' said Ankit Panda, an expert with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The toughest external challenges awaiting Lee are U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff policy and North Korea's expanding military partnerships with Russia . But experts earlier said whoever becomes president can't do much to secure major progress in South Korea's favor on those issues. During his inauguration speech, Lee didn't directly mention trade issues with the U.S. Allies react The U.S. and Japan said they congratulated Lee's election and expressed their commitments to developing three-way cooperation. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he wants to hold summit talks with Lee 'as early as possible,' saying he hopes to further promote bilateral ties, both public and commercial. The U.S. State Department said that Seoul and Washington share 'an ironclad commitment' to the alliance grounded in their mutual defense treaty, shared values and deep economic ties. It's unclear how North Korea would react to Lee's speech, as it has shunned any talks with South Korea since 2019. North Korea in recent years has supplied weapons and troops to support Russia's war against Ukraine, and South Korea, the U.S. and their partners suspect Russia might in return transfer high-tech technologies to North Korea to help it perfect its nuclear weapons program. Russia's Tass news agency said Wednesday that one of President Vladimir Putin's top security officials, Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu, has arrived in Pyongyang for a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in the latest sign of the countries' alignment over Putin's war in Ukraine. Lee said revitalizing a slowing domestic economy would be his top priority and that his government would immediately launch an emergency task force to wage a 'head-on battle' against the threats of recession. He also promised more aggressive government spending to help spur economic activity. South Korea's central bank last week cut its key interest rate and sharply lowered its growth outlook for 2025 to 0.8%, as it moved to counter Trump's tariff hikes and weak domestic demand worsened by recent political turmoil. South Korea still faces political divide Lee also called for unity to address the country's stark political divide deepened after Yoon's martial law debacle, saying that he will 'answer the people's solemn call to let hope bloom over deep and painful wounds.' Lee still promised a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding Yoon's martial law imposition, describing it as a 'rebellion that seized people's sovereignty with arms.' Yoon and some of his top military and police officers already stand trial on high-stakes rebellion charges in connection with martial law. Lee's push to bring those involved in Yoon's martial law stunt accountable has subsequently caused speculations among his opponents that he would launch political revenge against Yoon associates and senior prosecutors whom he previously accused of fabricating evidence to initiate criminal charges against him. Lee faces five trials on corruption and other allegations, but experts say those trials will likely stop during his term because the South Korean constitution gives a sitting president immunity from most criminal prosecutions. Lee also reiterated his campaign vows to reduce inequality and pledged to address the imbalance between the greater Seoul capital area and less developed regions. He said that 'the polarization fueled by inequality is now hindering further growth.' Lee's term began immediately without the usual two-month transition period after the National Election Commission formally confirmed his election victory. __ Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
