AMD has “RYZEN” to a 10 year high

AMD stock prices have achieved a 10 year high point. Crypto currency mining has played a large role in the short term gains. Critics are uncertain if AMD can continue the momentum and VEGA GPU’s are being called into question.

AMD is set to start its conference product preview at SIGGRAPH 2017 (ACM SIGGRAPH) during 30th Jul 2017 – 3rd Aug 2017. The main highlight of the show will most likely be its long awaited high end graphics cards (VEGA).

Just to recap, there should be three cards that get announced as follows;

The entry level RX Vega Core which should be renamed the RX Vega XL.

The slightly pricier mid-level RX Vega Eclipse which should be renamed the RX Vega XT.

Finally, the RX Vega Nova which is the most powerful of the three which is also being rumoured to undergo a rebranding treatment to RX Vega XTX.

THE GOOD/FUTURE

Though, not a big fan of the AMD “X” moniker used constantly throughout AMD’s new line-up of GPU’s, much of the media coverage has been relatively positive. CNBC.com reported the optimism Wall Street had over AMD’s earnings so far as a result of crypto currency mining. The second quarter boost in earnings for AMD can be largely derived from “Etherium” crypto currency mining which AMD Radeon 500 series cards (570,580 etc) were particularly suited for.

Fortune.com reported AMD’s $15.61 stock price rise which took AMD back to a 10-year high. An interview with Lisa Sue on the site had her explaining AMD was “operating profitability for the first time in three years,” The interview clarifies AMD’s focus on gaming and cloud server markets.

ASUS has announced its “Republic of Gamers Crosshair VI Extreme” motherboard. This X370 board from Asus is built to push Ryzen CPU’s to their limit. A truly high-end board, capable of three-way CrossFireX which enables the user to actively use 3 graphics cards simultaneously.

THE BAD/ECONOMICS

Ambrish Srivastava, Wall Street Analyst at BMO Capital (North American-based financial services provider), is a specialist in the technology sector. He is covered on marketwatch.com saying “we just do not see meaningful ensuing earnings”. The GPU line-up from AMD has been slightly muted and critics have noticed. The Threadripper CPU range has been getting all the attention so far and may be the cause of lowering estimates as AMD refocuses on what it can bring to the high-end gaming platform.

THE UGLY/EXPECTATIONS

Some critics have shown dismay over AMD’s prospects going as far as saying they don’t see a comeback for AMD “As AMD’s line-up gets more and more and more irrelevant” on the WAN Show. SIGGRAPH, which takes place on Sunday the 30^th of July can’t come soon enough. Linus Sebastian from Linus Tech Tips also referred to Vega as an “early access game” on the WAN show, a free to view YouTube video with just under half a million views and rising.

The VEGA range of GPU’s are set to cause a storm either way: good, bad or ugly. 

CEO Lisa T. Su of AMD to showcase VEGA GPU’s at SIGGRAPH 2017.