AMD stock: OpenAI, Meta warrants cost $1.1 billion as data centre doubles

AMD, the US chip designer, reported record data-centre revenue of $8.5 billion for its third quarter, up 97% from a year earlier, in results released on Tuesday, 3 November 2026. But its profit under standard accounting rules was cut by a charge of about $1.1 billion linked to the share warrants it has given OpenAI and Meta as part of large AI chip-supply deals. A warrant is a right to buy a company's shares later at a fixed price; as AMD's share price rose, the estimated value of those rights rose too, and AMD had to record the increase as a cost.

AMD's deals with OpenAI and Meta show a new way chip companies are winning AI business. Instead of simply selling chips, AMD has offered its biggest customers the chance to own part of the company if they buy enough. That ties the customers to AMD's success, but it also has an accounting cost: every time AMD's share price rises, the warrants become more valuable and AMD records a bigger charge.

Chief Financial Officer Jean Hu said these fair-value adjustments are expected to grow in later quarters as AMD ships MI450-series chips and the agreements progress. She said the charges are non-cash and do not affect AMD's non-GAAP earnings or free cash flow. Investors will have to look at both measures to understand how the business is doing.

For businesses buying technology, the results show where spending is going. Data-centre chips for AI and cloud computing now make up the large majority of AMD's sales, while gaming, once a pillar, is shrinking. That reflects how companies and cloud providers are pouring money into AI infrastructure, the computing power behind services such as chatbots. It also helps explain why markets reacted so sharply on 5 November, when investors began to worry about limits on new data centres in the United States.

Peepals calculation: Data-centre sales made up about 63% of AMD's revenue this quarter (8.5 ÷ 13.4 = 0.634). A 97% rise to $8.5 billion means data-centre revenue was about $4.3 billion a year earlier (8.5 ÷ 1.97 ≈ 4.31). Gaming's 40% fall to $773 million implies about $1.29 billion a year ago (0.773 ÷ 0.60). The guidance of about $17 billion for the fourth quarter would be roughly 27% more than this quarter's $13.4 billion (17 ÷ 13.4 ≈ 1.27). Our calculation from the reported figures.

Short-term: AMD's headline profit will keep moving with its own share price as long as the OpenAI and Meta warrants are outstanding, which makes its standard accounts harder to read.

Long-term: If the supply deals proceed as planned, OpenAI and Meta could become significant shareholders in AMD, deepening their ties to the company.

Who is affected: AMD's shareholders; cloud and AI companies buying data-centre chips; PC gamers and console makers who use AMD graphics and custom chips; and businesses planning AI infrastructure.

What to watch next: AMD's fourth-quarter results against its guidance of about $17 billion, and the size of the next warrant charge, which the company expects to rise.

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