Latest news with #VeraRubin
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Night sky glows purple above Vera Rubin Observatory
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. With no light pollution nearby, the night skies around the Vera Rubin Observatory glow in brilliant colors in this timelapse photo. What is it? The Vera Rubin Observatory is designed to study dark matter, which makes up 85% of our universe but is still unknown to scientists. Dark matter can create various effects in space thanks to its gravity, such as lensing, which astronomers can capture with the observatory's telescopes, hoping to find more about what makes up dark matter. Astronomers are also using these telescopes to study dark energy as well as the Milky Way galaxy and other structures in our universe. Where is it? The Vera Rubin Observatory is located in Cerro Pachón in Chile at an elevation of 5,200 feet (1,600 meters) above sea level. Why is it amazing? In this image, the observatory's opening can be seen thanks to the glow of its its calibration LEDs. As the telescope scans the skies once every three days with the world's largest digital camera, the calibration process helps ensure all the equipment is working properly. The observatory has just begun its decade-long Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) mission, where it will repeatedly scan the southern sky. Using the largest camera, the observatory captures detailed images that are so large they require a "data butler" to help manage them. Despite the size, the images could be the key to cracking the case of what dark matter truly is. Want to learn more? You can read more about the Vera Rubin Observatory, the legacy of Vera Rubin, and the hunt for dark matter. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Billionaire David Tepper Sold Nvidia and AMD and Is Piling Into This Specialized AI Chipmaker Instead
Key Points Tepper originally bought shares of the two biggest GPU makers in 2023: Nvidia and AMD. As GPUs face growing competition in data centers, he is shifting to a different chipmaker. Broadcom is a more diversified tech giant, giving its business more downside protection. 10 stocks we like better than Broadcom › David Tepper is one of the most successful investment managers on Wall Street. His Appaloosa Management hedge fund has produced gross annualized returns of more than 28% since its inception in 1993. That far outpaces the S&P 500's annualized return over the last 32-plus years of about 10.6%. Tepper is best known for buying distressed debt from companies close to bankruptcy. In fact, Appaloosa was considered a junk bond investment boutique in the 1990s. That contrarian approach often extends to his stock portfolio as well. That said, he's not so set on swimming against the current that he won't buy stocks that are part of an obvious trend like artificial intelligence (AI). AI stocks like Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) have soared in value over the last few years. And Tepper made quite a bit of money on those stocks. But he's been selling them recently in favor of another AI chipmaker instead, possibly taking a bit of a contrarian stance against the two big GPU makers. The essential infrastructure behind the AI revolution Graphics processing units (GPUs) are computer chips or systems that have proven exceptionally adept at crunching all the data that goes into training and running large language models. GPUs are designed to do the types of calculations needed for training AI algorithms, and they can run the processes in parallel, making them far more efficient than a standard CPU, which uses serial processing. Nvidia has long been a leader in GPUs, dating back to the days when they were mostly just used for high-end visuals in gaming (hence why the G stands for "graphics"). As the processing needs of large language models grew exponentially larger, it's seen incredible demand for its leading GPU systems. Even after the strong growth in 2023 and 2024, Nvidia's data center revenue climbed another 73% year over year last quarter. With strong operating leverage, the company has seen its earnings zoom higher, and investors have rewarded it. It's now the most valuable company in the world by a substantial margin, worth over $4 trillion. But AMD is starting to make progress in catching up to Nvidia. The company's MI400 chips coming next year could offer better price performance than Nvidia's current Blackwell line of chips. While Nvidia will be on to its next-generation Vera Rubin platform by then, AMD is offering Nvidia's biggest customers a viable alternative, which could keep its pricing from climbing substantially higher. AMD's stock hasn't performed nearly as well as Nvidia's. After peaking in early 2024, the stock crashed more than 60% to its low in April this year. The first quarter could have been a great opportunity to buy the stock, especially for a contrarian investor looking to take a stance against Nvidia's continued dominance. But Tepper sold his entire stake in AMD during the first quarter, a position first established in the second quarter of 2023. He also continued to cut his Nvidia stake, leaving him with just 3% of the shares he held for Appaloosa in mid-2023. Instead, he's betting on a different chipmaker that poses an increasing threat to the dominance of GPUs in AI data centers. The AI chipmaker Tepper's buying instead While GPUs are extremely flexible and capable of handling all sorts of tasks, many of the biggest companies developing leading-edge AI capabilities are working on custom-made silicon that can handle specific tasks far more efficiently than power-hungry GPUs. These application-specific integrated circuits, or ASICs, represent a significant threat to GPUs, as hyperscalers like Meta Platforms and Alphabet's Google design more advanced chips capable of handling AI training and inference. The capabilities of ASICs are expanding. Meta says its custom chips, which have historically handled machine learning AI, are expanding to training large language models after starting with machine learning algorithms and moving on to AI inference. Google trained its large language model Gemini on its own chip designs, and it just released its first Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) designed for AI inference in April. The company helping Meta and Google design their ASICs is Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO). On top of that ASIC business, Broadcom is also the leading networking chipmaker. Networking is an essential piece of AI data centers, as solid network performance ensures all the data gets to the expensive GPUs or ASICs quickly and efficiently. These businesses are spending billions on those chips, so they don't want them sitting idly any longer than necessary. Broadcom also has an enterprise software business, led by virtual machine software VMWare. That is to say, Broadcom offers a more diversified chipmaker compared to Nvidia or even AMD (which also has a strong CPU business). That may be why Tepper took a small stake in the company during the first quarter, as it's a leading competitor in AI chips while offering some downside protection with its VMWare business. Still, Broadcom stock is expensive. It trades for a forward earnings multiple close to 40. That's right in line with Nvidia and slightly less expensive than AMD. The company arguably holds more upside if ASIC designs capture more real estate in data centers over time. Consider the potential efficiency gains of ASICs versus GPUs, which seems likely to happen in the long run. But investors may have to settle for more slow and steady growth compared to Nvidia or AMD. As such, it's worth keeping an eye on Broadcom's stock to see if it falls back down to a more attractive price before following Tepper into the stock. Should you buy stock in Broadcom right now? Before you buy stock in Broadcom, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Broadcom wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $652,133!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,056,790!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,048% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 15, 2025 Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Adam Levy has positions in Alphabet and Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, Meta Platforms, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Billionaire David Tepper Sold Nvidia and AMD and Is Piling Into This Specialized AI Chipmaker Instead was originally published by The Motley Fool
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
NVDA vs. TSM: Which Semiconductor Stock Is the Better AI Investment?
NVIDIA Corporation NVDA and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company TSM, also known as TSMC, are two of the most important companies in the global AI chip supply chain. NVIDIA designs the powerful graphics processing units (GPUs) that run advanced AI models, while Taiwan Semiconductor manufactures those chips using its leading-edge process technologies. Both companies are critical to AI infrastructure, but which one offers the better investment opportunity right now? Let's break it down by looking at their financial performance, challenges and growth outlook. The Case for NVIDIA NVIDIA is at the center of AI computing, with its products widely used across data centers, gaming and autonomous vehicles. The company continues to see strong demand from cloud providers, enterprises and startups building AI systems. In the first quarter of fiscal 2026, NVIDIA's data center revenues rose 73% year over year to $39.1 billion, showing the strength of this part of its business. Its newer Hopper 200 and Blackwell GPU platforms are being adopted quickly as customers work to grow their AI infrastructure. Much of this demand comes from large cloud providers that depend on NVIDIA GPUs for their AI workloads. The Blackwell architecture promises significantly higher performance, and upcoming versions like Blackwell Ultra and Vera Rubin are expected to strengthen NVIDIA's position further as AI demand keeps growing. However, the company faces near-term challenges from export restrictions. New U.S. rules stopped NVIDIA from selling its H20 chips to China, leading to lost sales of $2.5 billion in the first quarter. NVIDIA expects to lose another $8 billion in H20 sales during the second quarter. These restrictions are already slowing NVIDIA's growth. The company's revenue forecast for the second quarter is $45 billion, implying a modest 2% sequential increase, well below the double-digit growth it has posted in the previous nine quarters. While NVIDIA's long-term prospects are still strong, near-term uncertainty has clearly increased. The Case for Taiwan Semiconductor TSM manufactures chips for the world's top tech companies, including NVIDIA, Advanced Micro Devices and Broadcom. Taiwan Semiconductor is known for its advanced production capabilities and has already moved into 3nm production, with 2nm coming soon. Its large scale allows it to handle rising AI chip demand better than most competitors. In the second quarter of 2025, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing reported a 39% increase in revenues and a 61% jump in profit. Its 3nm and 5nm chips accounted for nearly 60% of wafer sales. AI-related revenues tripled in 2024 and are expected to double again in 2025. With AI likely to be a long-term driver, TSMC's future growth potential looks strong. Buoyed by strong demand for its 3nm and 5nm chips, Taiwan Semiconductor raised its revenue growth guidance for full-year 2025 to 30% from mind-20% projected earlier. For the third quarter, TSMC expects revenues in the range of $31.8-$33 billion, calling for a sequential increase of 6%-10%. Taiwan Semiconductor is also investing heavily to stay ahead. It plans to spend up to $42 billion in 2025, mostly on advanced manufacturing. This is up from $29.8 billion in 2024 and shows its commitment to keeping its lead in cutting-edge chip production. NVDA vs. TSM: EPS Estimate Trends The Zacks Consensus Estimate projects NVIDIA's earnings per share (EPS) to rise 42.1% in fiscal 2026 and 32.1% in fiscal 2027. Over the past seven days, earnings estimates have been revised upward, showing strong confidence. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research The consensus mark for Taiwan Semiconductor's earnings also demonstrates strong growth ahead. EPS is expected to grow 34.7% in 2025 and 15.2% in 2026. The EPS estimate trend for TSMC has been moving upward over the last 30 days. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research NVDA vs. TSM: Price Performance & Valuation Check Shares of NVIDIA and Taiwan Semiconductor have performed well so far in 2025 despite severe market volatility due to macro uncertainty and geopolitical tension. NVIDIA shares have risen 28.9% year to date, while Taiwan Semiconductor has soared 24.1%. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research On the valuation front, Taiwan Semiconductor trades at a more reasonable level. Its price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple is 23.93X, far below NVIDIA's 35.57X. This suggests that TSM offers better value relative to its growth potential. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research TSM: A Better Bet Than NVDA While NVIDIA continues to lead in AI chip design and has a powerful product roadmap, it also faces short-term hurdles, especially from export restrictions that limit its access to the massive Chinese market. Its stock is also more expensive, leaving less room for upside if growth slows. Meanwhile, Taiwan Semiconductor sits at the core of the AI chip supply chain with less geopolitical risk and a more reasonable valuation. Its growth outlook is strong, backed by rising AI demand and major investments in future technology. For investors looking for a solid AI play with a better risk-reward balance, Taiwan Semiconductor is the smarter choice today. TSM carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), making it a clear winner over NVDA, which has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) at present. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) : Free Stock Analysis Report Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. (TSM) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Economic Times
15-07-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
AMD stock soars 8% as new AI chips take aim at Nvidia's throne — is a power shift coming?
What's making AMD stock jump and why are analysts suddenly bullish? Live Events Could AMD's MI400 series take the fight directly to Nvidia's Vera Rubin platform? Is this breakout real or just a short-term bounce? $175 is the next resistance point — near last year's highs. is the next resistance point — near last year's highs. A break above could open the path toward $200 to $215 , which aligns with HSBC's bullish forecast and past 2024 peaks. , which aligns with HSBC's bullish forecast and past 2024 peaks. On the downside, if momentum stalls, $135 is the first major support, with deeper support sitting near $115 — both key buying zones for long-term investors. Short-term AMD stock prediction Bullish trend likely to continue in the near term, especially if AMD breaks above key resistance at $175 . in the near term, especially if AMD breaks above key resistance at . If buying pressure stays strong, the stock could test $200–$215 in the coming weeks — a zone aligned with HSBC's new target and 2024 highs. in the coming weeks — a zone aligned with HSBC's new target and 2024 highs. Next catalyst: AMD's Q2 earnings on August 5, where investors will watch for updates on MI350 chip adoption and enterprise AI deals. Long-term AMD stock outlook 2026 and beyond: AMD's roadmap includes the MI400 series with massive specs like 432 GB of HBM4 memory, designed to challenge Nvidia's future Vera Rubin platform. AMD's roadmap includes the MI400 series with massive specs like 432 GB of HBM4 memory, designed to challenge Nvidia's future Vera Rubin platform. If AMD gains meaningful share in AI accelerators — especially among cloud giants like Microsoft, Meta, Oracle, and OpenAI — the stock could see structural upside. Risks include Nvidia's stronghold with the CUDA ecosystem and AMD's need to expand its ROCm developer base. What risks should investors watch as AMD challenges Nvidia? Is a power shift really coming in the AI chip race? FAQs: (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) surged 7.9% on Tuesday, closing at $157.79, after HSBC upgraded the stock and nearly doubled its price target to $200. The boost came as analysts and investors digested new details about AMD's latest AI chips — the Instinct MI350 series — which analysts now say could directly challenge Nvidia's Blackwell lineup, while costing roughly 30% rally isn't just about price movement. It's part of a bigger shift in the AI chip race, where AMD, once seen as a second-tier competitor, is now stepping up as a serious rival to Nvidia's dominance in AI data center excitement started when HSBC upgraded AMD from 'Hold' to 'Buy' and raised its price target from $100 to $200, citing the strength of the new MI350 chips, particularly the MI355X, which delivers 22 terabytes per second (TB/s) of memory bandwidth — nearly three times that of Nvidia's Blackwell B200, which stands at around 8 TB/ makes this even more eye-catching is the price. At approximately $25,000 per chip, AMD's MI350 chips are expected to be 30% cheaper than Nvidia's comparable offerings, according to HSBC's note covered by MarketWatch and Barron' this isn't all. The company already has key customers lined up — Oracle, Microsoft, Meta, and OpenAI — putting real momentum behind what could be AMD's strongest push into AI further ahead, AMD is already preparing its next big leap with the MI400 series, scheduled to launch in 2026. These chips, part of AMD's AI accelerator roadmap, will reportedly include 432GB of HBM4 memory, and are designed for rack-scale infrastructure, aligning with broader data center trends like helios also has strategic alignments forming with OpenAI and other cloud titans, which could give it an edge as demand for generative AI hardware continues to explode. Reports from Investopedia, Nasdaq, and TechRadar have highlighted how AMD's roadmap now places it squarely in competition with Nvidia's upcoming, which had been seen as the uncontested future standard just a year AMD is on fire. The stock just broke out of a flag pattern, which typically signals a strong continuation trend. Trading volume surged to a one-week high, and momentum indicators such as Relative Strength Index (RSI) and moving averages are flashing bullish signals, according to technical breakdowns from while the chart looks strong, the real test will come during AMD's next earnings report on August 5, and any new announcements on chip shipments or cloud the excitement, Nvidia still holds the crown when it comes to software dominance — especially through its CUDA ecosystem, which boasts over 5 million developers. AMD, meanwhile, continues to build out its competing ROCm platform, but it's not yet as mature or widely execution risk remains. AMD needs to deliver its chips on time, at scale, and with performance that matches the hype. Analysts from firms like Goldman Sachs remain cautious, noting that AMD's market share in AI accelerators is still in early latest jump isn't just a reaction to an analyst upgrade. It signals a broader change in how investors view the company's place in the rapidly growing AI market. With the MI350 chips already drawing comparisons to Nvidia's best — and doing it at a lower price — AMD is proving it's no longer just playing with the MI400 series already in development, AMD may finally be ready to move from challenger to co-leader in AI data centers. But how much ground it gains will depend on execution, software traction, and how Nvidia the battle heats up, investors should keep a close eye on, and most importantly,— because this AI story is just getting release of MI350 AI chips and a major HSBC upgrade pushed AMD stock up 8%.Yes, AMD's MI350 chips offer high bandwidth and are 30% cheaper than Nvidia's Blackwell GPUs.
Time of India
15-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
AMD stock soars 8% as new AI chips take aim at Nvidia's throne — is a power shift coming?
What's making AMD stock jump and why are analysts suddenly bullish? Live Events Could AMD's MI400 series take the fight directly to Nvidia's Vera Rubin platform? Is this breakout real or just a short-term bounce? $175 is the next resistance point — near last year's highs. is the next resistance point — near last year's highs. A break above could open the path toward $200 to $215 , which aligns with HSBC's bullish forecast and past 2024 peaks. , which aligns with HSBC's bullish forecast and past 2024 peaks. On the downside, if momentum stalls, $135 is the first major support, with deeper support sitting near $115 — both key buying zones for long-term investors. Short-term AMD stock prediction Bullish trend likely to continue in the near term, especially if AMD breaks above key resistance at $175 . in the near term, especially if AMD breaks above key resistance at . If buying pressure stays strong, the stock could test $200–$215 in the coming weeks — a zone aligned with HSBC's new target and 2024 highs. in the coming weeks — a zone aligned with HSBC's new target and 2024 highs. Next catalyst: AMD's Q2 earnings on August 5, where investors will watch for updates on MI350 chip adoption and enterprise AI deals. Long-term AMD stock outlook 2026 and beyond: AMD's roadmap includes the MI400 series with massive specs like 432 GB of HBM4 memory, designed to challenge Nvidia's future Vera Rubin platform. AMD's roadmap includes the MI400 series with massive specs like 432 GB of HBM4 memory, designed to challenge Nvidia's future Vera Rubin platform. If AMD gains meaningful share in AI accelerators — especially among cloud giants like Microsoft, Meta, Oracle, and OpenAI — the stock could see structural upside. Risks include Nvidia's stronghold with the CUDA ecosystem and AMD's need to expand its ROCm developer base. What risks should investors watch as AMD challenges Nvidia? Is a power shift really coming in the AI chip race? FAQs: (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) surged 7.9% on Tuesday, closing at $157.79, after HSBC upgraded the stock and nearly doubled its price target to $200. The boost came as analysts and investors digested new details about AMD's latest AI chips — the Instinct MI350 series — which analysts now say could directly challenge Nvidia's Blackwell lineup, while costing roughly 30% rally isn't just about price movement. It's part of a bigger shift in the AI chip race, where AMD, once seen as a second-tier competitor, is now stepping up as a serious rival to Nvidia's dominance in AI data center excitement started when HSBC upgraded AMD from 'Hold' to 'Buy' and raised its price target from $100 to $200, citing the strength of the new MI350 chips, particularly the MI355X, which delivers 22 terabytes per second (TB/s) of memory bandwidth — nearly three times that of Nvidia's Blackwell B200, which stands at around 8 TB/ makes this even more eye-catching is the price. At approximately $25,000 per chip, AMD's MI350 chips are expected to be 30% cheaper than Nvidia's comparable offerings, according to HSBC's note covered by MarketWatch and Barron' this isn't all. The company already has key customers lined up — Oracle, Microsoft, Meta, and OpenAI — putting real momentum behind what could be AMD's strongest push into AI further ahead, AMD is already preparing its next big leap with the MI400 series, scheduled to launch in 2026. These chips, part of AMD's AI accelerator roadmap, will reportedly include 432GB of HBM4 memory, and are designed for rack-scale infrastructure, aligning with broader data center trends like helios also has strategic alignments forming with OpenAI and other cloud titans, which could give it an edge as demand for generative AI hardware continues to explode. Reports from Investopedia, Nasdaq, and TechRadar have highlighted how AMD's roadmap now places it squarely in competition with Nvidia's upcoming, which had been seen as the uncontested future standard just a year AMD is on fire. The stock just broke out of a flag pattern, which typically signals a strong continuation trend. Trading volume surged to a one-week high, and momentum indicators such as Relative Strength Index (RSI) and moving averages are flashing bullish signals, according to technical breakdowns from while the chart looks strong, the real test will come during AMD's next earnings report on August 5, and any new announcements on chip shipments or cloud the excitement, Nvidia still holds the crown when it comes to software dominance — especially through its CUDA ecosystem, which boasts over 5 million developers. AMD, meanwhile, continues to build out its competing ROCm platform, but it's not yet as mature or widely execution risk remains. AMD needs to deliver its chips on time, at scale, and with performance that matches the hype. Analysts from firms like Goldman Sachs remain cautious, noting that AMD's market share in AI accelerators is still in early latest jump isn't just a reaction to an analyst upgrade. It signals a broader change in how investors view the company's place in the rapidly growing AI market. With the MI350 chips already drawing comparisons to Nvidia's best — and doing it at a lower price — AMD is proving it's no longer just playing with the MI400 series already in development, AMD may finally be ready to move from challenger to co-leader in AI data centers. But how much ground it gains will depend on execution, software traction, and how Nvidia the battle heats up, investors should keep a close eye on, and most importantly,— because this AI story is just getting release of MI350 AI chips and a major HSBC upgrade pushed AMD stock up 8%.Yes, AMD's MI350 chips offer high bandwidth and are 30% cheaper than Nvidia's Blackwell GPUs.
