I'm LongbridgeAI, I can summarize articles.Truist analyst William Stein maintains a Buy rating on AMD with a $594 price target, citing strong demand for its Helios AI platform and Venice server CPUs. While the Helios ramp is ahead of expectations, it may cause a near-term ~100-basis-point gross margin headwind in Q4 due to product mix shifts. Despite this, management remains confident in long-term data center growth exceeding 100% YoY by 2027. The consensus rating for AMD is Strong Buy, with an average price target implying 23% upside.
Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) stock is pushing higher on Wednesday, with shares up around 4% as the broader semiconductor sector rebounds from a sell-off earlier in the week. AI chip stocks have been recovering after Monday’s decline, when concerns about a potential slowdown in AI spending hit the sector. AMD is also getting a lift from fresh commentary around demand for its AI accelerators and server CPUs, with analysts pointing to strong demand and the company’s upcoming Helios ramp.
That backdrop brings us to the latest note from Truist’s William Stein, an analyst ranked 9th among the thousands of Street stock experts. Following a sell-side call with AMD investor relations ahead of the company’s Q3 quiet period, Stein came away with a positive view of the Helios rollout and underlying Data Center demand, while also flagging a near-term gross-margin headwind as AMD shifts toward AI products.
The analyst said AMD sounded confident about the Helios rollout, noting that production shipments have begun and customers are already running production code on the systems. Deployments are expected to scale from tens of racks to hundreds and eventually thousands.
More importantly, Stein said Helios demand is tracking ahead of expectations, with supply in place to support current plans. For now, execution is the main focus as AMD works to scale its first rack-level AI platform.
The analyst also highlighted strong demand for Venice, AMD’s next-generation server CPU. Management described Venice as its most important server launch to date, with demand well above available supply and a rapid ramp expected in 2027.
That adds to continued traction for Turin, while AI deployments are also driving demand for CPUs used in agentic workloads and AI head-node infrastructure. As such, AMD reiterated confidence in a Data Center growth framework of more than 100% year over year for 2027. Stein said management’s comments reinforced the view that current server and AI demand remains as strong as anticipated.
There is a catch in the near term, however. The analyst noted that the Helios ramp will put pressure on gross margins as AMD’s product mix shifts toward MI455 and rack-scale AI systems.
AMD expects MI455 to account for the majority of its AI revenue in the fourth quarter, which could create a roughly 100-basis-point gross-margin headwind. Beyond the fourth quarter, though, management continues to focus on “strong gross profit dollar growth” and operating leverage, even with corporate gross margin likely remaining around 55%.
That is broadly consistent with Stein’s 2027 model, which assumes a 54.5% gross margin. The analyst has nevertheless lowered his Q4 2026 gross-margin estimate to 55.0% from 55.4%.
All told, Stein reiterated a Buy rating, backed by a $594 price target. Should the figure be met, investors will be pocketing returns of 13.5% a year from now. (To watch Stein’s track record, click here)
28 other analysts join Stein in the AMD bull camp, while an additional 6 Holds can’t detract from a Strong Buy consensus rating. At $644.42, the average price target offers 12-month upside of 23%. (See AMD stock forecast)