Bloodline

AMD ($AMD) often finds itself sized up against its bigger chip rival Nvidia ($NVDA), the perceived wealthier cousin with a market cap that’s quadrupled in value to over US$4t in the last five years. 

But here’s the twist: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and AMD CEO Lisa Su are first cousins once removed. Their shared lineage adds a curious irony to a high-stakes battle where innovation, not inheritance, determines who leads the future of computing.

So how did Nvidia leave AMD (and, let’s face it, the rest of the market) in the dust?

The answer is CUDA – Nvidia’s proprietary parallel computing platform, which became the industry standard for GPU-accelerated computing in AI. Investors didn’t just buy into Huang’s leather-jacketed charisma – they bet on the future of AI infrastructure. And Nvidia delivered.

Back in Q4 2022, AMD reported US$5.06b in revenue compared to Nvidia’s US$6.05b. Fast forward to Q2 2025, and the gap is staggering. Nvidia posted US$46.7b in quarterly revenue, with a gross margin of 72.4%. AMD’s revenue remains in the US$5b to US$8b range, and its Q2 gross margin sits at 39.8%.

Still, AMD hasn’t conceded the race, even if it commands just 14.3% of the chip market. The key focus? Price. In June, Su said AMD’s MI355 chip offers ‘greater efficiency’ compared to Nvidia's B200 and GB200 chips. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman joined Su on stage to say his company would use the latest AMD chips.

Another consideration: the two companies diverge in focus. Nvidia revolves around high performance GPUs like Hopper and Blackwell. AMD leads in CPU performance with its Ryzen 9000 X3D chips, and is eating into Intel’s ($INTC) CPU market share.

Yes, GPUs power the AI revolution. But CPUs still form the backbone of general computing environments. If the tech complements each other, the same can be true for Nvidia and AMD as portfolio fixtures.

The latest results show both companies have strong margins and double-digit YoY revenue growth, but Nvidia remains the undisputed leader for AI infrastructure. 

But AMD can still win. Not by dethroning Nvidia, but by carving out a critical role as the flexible, cost-effective alternative for hyperscalers looking to diversify from a single vendor.

In this silicon showdown, there’s plenty of room and demand for both to thrive.

This is not financial advice nor a recommendation to invest in the securities listed. The information presented is intended to be of a factual nature only. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. As always, do your own research and consider seeking financial, legal and taxation advice before investing.