Wall Street’s AI Chip Rotation Lifts Intel, AMD, and Micron

CNBC reported Friday that an AI chip rotation is reshaping semiconductor portfolios. Investors are moving capital away from Nvidia and into CPU makers and memory companies powering the next stage of artificial intelligence infrastructure.

A Week That Rewrote the AI Trade

The shift was dramatic over just five trading sessions. Intel and Advanced Micro Devices each climbed roughly 25% this week. Memory chipmaker Micron jumped more than 37%. Fiber-optic cable manufacturer Corning added around 18%. All four have more than doubled in value since January. Intel leads the group, up well over 200% for the year. Nvidia, by contrast, gained about 15% in 2026, barely outpacing the broader Nasdaq.

Mizuho analyst Jordan Klein described the move as a potential “changing of the guard in AI,” framing the rotation as structural rather than tactical.

Background: Nvidia’s Early Dominance

When ChatGPT launched in late 2022, Nvidia became the defining name of the generative AI buildout. Graphics processing units were the essential ingredient for training large language models. Cloud giants and model developers alike queued for Nvidia hardware. The company still expects revenue to grow roughly 70% this fiscal year and remains the world’s most valuable chipmaker. But Wall Street’s attention has broadened considerably.

Memory Shortage Fuels Micron’s Historic Run

Memory has emerged as the dominant near-term theme. A global supply squeeze has pushed prices sharply higher while production costs have risen only modestly. Micron surpassed an $800 billion market capitalization for the first time this week. The stock has gained more than 750% over the past year. CEO Sanjay Mehrotra told CNBC earlier this year that key customers are receiving only half to two-thirds of their requested memory volumes because of constrained supply. Samsung and SK Hynix, the two Korean rivals that dominate the market alongside Micron, are also posting historic gains.

Agents Revive Demand for CPUs

The deeper structural shift runs through central processing units. CPUs had faded into the background as GPU spending consumed most AI capital budgets. The emergence of AI agents has changed that calculus. Bank of America estimates the data center CPU market could grow from $27 billion in 2025 to $60 billion by 2030. AMD’s latest quarterly results beat across every major metric on the back of data center strength. CEO Lisa Su said on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street that agent-driven workloads are generating “tremendous demand” across the adoption cycle. AMD now projects server CPU market growth of 35% over the next three to five years, nearly double its November forecast of 18%. Goldman Sachs and Bernstein both upgraded AMD to buy this week, citing the CPU tailwind.

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