AMD Vs. Nvidia: The Balance of Power Shifts To AMD Now
AMD's data center business nearly doubled while NVIDIA still dwarfs it in scale, and a sudden chip selloff has muddied the race. Which company holds the steeper path into 2027, and what single slip could flip the verdict?
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Record third-quarter results were reported by AMD (NASDAQ:AMD | AMD Price Prediction) on November 3. Data Center sales nearly doubled as its first Helios racks went live. NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) last reported in August and is shipping Vera Rubin into a market where demand exceeds supply. A sharp chip selloff this week makes the comparison more difficult.
Helios Racks Lift AMD While Vera Rubin Keeps NVIDIA Ahead
AMD’s Data Center revenue reached $8.55 billion, up 97% year over year. The segment now makes up 64% of revenue, up from 47% a year ago. AMD is quickly turning into a data center company. Anthropic, OpenAI and major hyperscalers all brought their first Helios racks online. Gaming fell 40% to $773M as the console cycle aged, and that drag barely moves the overall picture now.
NVIDIA still operates at a different scale. Data Center revenue hit $89.02B, up 117%, and networking rose 138% to $40.31B. A networking jump that large shows customers buying entire AI factories. Jensen Huang put it simply: “Now, compute is revenue.”
| Business Driver | AMD | NVIDIA |
|---|---|---|
| Growth Engine | Instinct MI450, EPYC Venice | Blackwell Ultra, Vera Rubin |
| Data Center Growth | 97% | 117% |
| Gross Margin | 56% | 75.0% |
| Next-Quarter Revenue Outlook | ~$17.0B | $108.0B |
AMD Sells Cost Per Token, NVIDIA Sells the Whole Stack
Lisa Su built AMD’s case around cost: “The key is for us to continue to show that TCO advantage across workloads.” TCO, or total cost of ownership, covers what a customer spends to buy and run the hardware. Su called early Venice demand “the strongest we have seen for any new EPYC generation”, and partners have committed more than 240 platforms. Hyperscalers are facing tax, grid and capital pressure, which is also why the power, cooling, and networking suppliers behind the data centers keep showing up in our free AI infrastructure report. That gives AMD’s lower-cost, high-memory Instinct GPUs a structural tailwind in high-volume inference, where AI models answer user requests.
NVIDIA relies on CUDA, networking and financing. It has committed nearly $50 billion in frontier AI labs. Huang granted that “some will call this circular financing.” I share some of that skepticism.
Supply and Memory Costs Will Decide Who Gains Ground
AMD expects 2027 revenue to grow more than 80%, which is an ambitious target. Inventory rose to $11.46B, up 35% sequentially, and free cash flow was only $554M, so AMD has little room for execution errors. I will be watching whether Lenovo and other server makers ship Helios systems on time.
NVIDIA expects about 70% growth in fiscal 2028, with supply as the limit. It projects gross margin reaching a low at 71% to 72% in the fourth quarter as memory prices rise. AMD faces the same cost pressure.
AMD Carries the Steeper Growth Curve Into 2027
AMD shares are up 92.66% year to date even after a 15.59% drop on November 5. NVIDIA is down 2.24% over the same stretch. That gap suggests the market already prices in part of the shift toward AMD. In my view, AMD has the steeper growth curve, with Helios and Venice scaling at the same time.
NVIDIA stands out for quality and cash generation. It generated $21.34B in quarterly free cash flow and returned ~$26.0B to shareholders. This view could change if Helios deployments slip.
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Alex Sirois is a financial writer with experience spanning both retail and institutional investing. He has written for InvestorPlace and held roles at BNY Mellon and Bernstein, giving him a perspective that bridges Main Street portfolios and Wall Street analysis.
Alex holds an MBA from George Washington University and has built his career across multiple industries, including e-commerce, education, and translation — a breadth of experience that informs how he breaks down complex financial topics for everyday investors. His writing is conversational, actionable, and grounded in long-term, buy-and-hold investing principles.
At 247 Wall St., Alex focuses on delivering analysis that is both accessible and useful, with a clear emphasis on helping readers make more informed decisions with their money.
