Nvidia sells 6.2 times what Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) sells. It also keeps far more of each revenue dollar as operating profit, which is revenue less the costs of running the business. On US accounting rules (GAAP), Nvidia kept 60.4 cents in its fiscal year 2026, which ended on 25 January 2026. AMD kept 10.7 cents in its fiscal year 2025, which ended on 27 December 2025.
Over five years to 26 October 2026, Nvidia's shares turned $10,000 into about twice as much as AMD's. The stake became $87,772 in Nvidia and $43,218 in AMD, with dividends counted.
How do Nvidia and AMD compare? Both design AI chips and pay outside foundries, which are factories that make chips for other companies, to build them. Nvidia is the larger business, at 6.2 times AMD's sales, while it keeps far more of each dollar as operating profit.
Operating margin is operating profit as a share of revenue. Nvidia's was 60.4% in fiscal year 2026, against 10.7% for AMD in fiscal year 2025.
Data Center, the segment that holds the AI chips, was 89.7% of Nvidia's revenue and 48.0% of AMD's.
Over five years to 26 October 2026, $10,000 became $87,772 in Nvidia and $43,218 in AMD.
How do we compare Nvidia and AMD?
Every business figure comes from each company's annual report, called a Form 10-K, filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Quarterly reports, called Form 10-Q, add the latest six months.
A fiscal year is the company's own accounting year. Nvidia's fiscal year 2026 ran from 27 January 2025 to 25 January 2026. AMD's fiscal year 2025 ran from 29 December 2024 to 27 December 2025.
Every margin and profit figure is GAAP. We use no non-GAAP figures, which are adjusted measures that leave out some costs.
Where do Nvidia and AMD sit in the chip industry?
Both companies design chips and do not make them. A foundry is a factory that makes chips for other companies. Nvidia's 10-K names Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and Samsung as its foundries. AMD's names TSMC and GlobalFoundries.
Our post on what TSMC does covers the foundry side. Our semiconductor value chain post shows the whole industry.
What do Nvidia and AMD sell?
Nvidia sorts its revenue by end market. Data Center, its AI accelerators plus the networking that links them, brought in $193.7 billion in fiscal year 2026. An AI accelerator is a chip that trains and runs AI models.
Data Center is 89.7% of Nvidia's revenue, up 68.2%.
Gaming was $16.0 billion, or 7.4% of revenue. The remaining $6.2 billion came from other products.
AMD reports three segments. Data Center, which holds its server processors and its Instinct AI accelerators, brought in $16.6 billion in fiscal year 2025. That is 48.0% of revenue, up 32.2%. Client and Gaming was $14.6 billion, up 50.8%. Embedded was $3.5 billion, down 2.9%.
Source: Nvidia and AMD Form 10-K filings
The chart shows that Data Center is the largest segment at both companies, while Nvidia's is far larger.
Nvidia's Data Center revenue was 11.6 times AMD's. The two lines are not the same measure, because AMD's segment includes server processors as well as AI accelerators.
How fast is each company growing?
Nvidia's revenue rose from $60.9 billion in fiscal year 2024 to $130.5 billion in fiscal year 2025, a gain of 114.2%. It reached $215.9 billion in fiscal year 2026, up 65.5%.
AMD's revenue rose from $22.7 billion in fiscal year 2023 to $25.8 billion in fiscal year 2024, up 13.7%. It reached $34.6 billion in fiscal year 2025, up 34.3%.
Source: Nvidia and AMD Form 10-K filings
The chart shows each company's revenue for its last three fiscal years. Both rose every year, Nvidia's faster.
The latest 10-Q filings show faster growth. Nvidia's revenue for the six months to 26 July 2026 was up 95.8% on a year earlier. AMD's for the six months to 27 June 2026 was up 44.1%.
Which company has the higher margins?
A margin is a share of revenue. Gross margin is what remains after the direct cost of making the product. Operating margin is what remains after research and development, sales and administration. Net margin is what remains after interest, tax and other income.
Net margins carry one-off items, so operating margin is the closer measure.
Source: Nvidia and AMD Form 10-K filings
The chart shows Nvidia ahead on all three margins. The gap is widest on operating margin.
Nvidia's gross margin was 71.1%, down from 75.0% a year earlier. The filing attributes part of the fall to a $4.5 billion charge for excess inventory and purchase commitments. AMD's gross margin was 49.5%.
AMD's operating margin is after $2.3 billion of amortisation of acquisition-related intangibles. Amortisation spreads the price paid for bought businesses over several years as a cost.
Nvidia's net income includes $9.0 billion of other income, of which $8.9 billion was gains on investments in other companies.
AMD's net margin of 12.5% sits above its operating margin mainly because of $577 million of other income, net of $131 million of interest expense. It also booked a tax benefit of $103 million, which included an $853 million benefit from reversing tax provisions it no longer needed.
What multiples does the market pay for each?
The price-to-earnings ratio is the share price divided by earnings per share, as our post on the P/E ratio explains. The price-to-sales ratio is the market value of all shares divided by revenue.
We measure both ratios over the trailing four quarters, which means the latest four quarters of results. That is the latest fiscal year, plus the first six months of the current year, minus the first six months of the year before. Prices are the closes on 26 October 2026.
Nvidia | AMD | |
|---|---|---|
Share price, close on 26 October 2026 | $216.00 | $531.28 |
Shares outstanding at the latest 10-Q cover date | 24.1 billion (21 August 2026) | 1.63 billion (29 July 2026) |
Market value | about $5.2 trillion | $867 billion |
Revenue, trailing four quarters | $303.0 billion | $41.3 billion |
GAAP diluted earnings per share, trailing four quarters | $7.91 | $3.90 |
Price-to-earnings ratio | 27.3 | 136.2 |
Price-to-sales ratio | 17.2 | 21.0 |
Trailing four quarters: Nvidia to 26 July 2026, AMD to 27 June 2026. GAAP figures. Source: Nvidia and AMD Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filings; YX Insights price data
The market pays 27.3 times Nvidia's trailing GAAP earnings and 136.2 times AMD's. On sales the two sit closer: 17.2 times for Nvidia and 21.0 times for AMD. A multiple describes the price paid for a year of results, not whether the price is right.
Which stock returned more over five years?
Each stake was bought at the close on 26 October 2021 and was valued on 26 October 2026. Nvidia's ten-for-one stock split of June 2024 is already in the numbers. The index comparison uses SPY (the S&P 500 ETF), an exchange-traded fund that tracks the S&P 500 index of large US companies.
Nvidia's $10,000 became $87,772, which is 54.4% a year. AMD's became $43,218, or 34.0% a year. SPY's became $17,950, or 12.4% a year.
Source: YX Insights price data (NVDA, AMD, SPY)
The chart shows both stocks well ahead of SPY, with Nvidia ahead of AMD.
Volatility is how widely a price swings from day to day, scaled to a year, as our post on what volatility is explains. Nvidia's was 51.5% and AMD's was 57.2%, against 17.1% for SPY.
A drawdown is a fall from a previous high, as our post on what a drawdown is explains. We searched all five years for the worst one.
Each stock's worst drawdown ran from its high on 29 November 2021 to its low on 14 October 2022. Nvidia fell 66.3% and AMD fell 65.4%. SPY's worst was 24.5%, from 3 January 2022 to 12 October 2022.
Nvidia beat AMD in each calendar year from 2021 to 2024. In 2024 Nvidia returned 171.2% and AMD lost 18.1%. AMD led in 2025 and in 2026 to date, when it returned 148.1% to Nvidia's 16.1%. The first and last years are part years.
Multi-model Signals covers both Nvidia and AMD.
Nvidia is the larger business, at 6.2 times AMD's sales. It also keeps far more of each revenue dollar as operating profit, 60.4% against 10.7% on GAAP figures. Over five years, a $10,000 stake in Nvidia ended with about twice the value of the same stake in AMD.
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Common questions about Nvidia and AMD
Is Nvidia bigger than AMD?
Yes. Nvidia's revenue for fiscal year 2026, which ended on 25 January 2026, was $215.9 billion. AMD's for fiscal year 2025, which ended on 27 December 2025, was $34.6 billion. That makes Nvidia 6.2 times larger by sales. Nvidia's operating margin, the share of revenue left after running costs, was also higher.
Which has the higher profit margin, Nvidia or AMD?
Nvidia does. Its GAAP operating margin, the share of revenue left after running costs, was 60.4% in fiscal year 2026, against 10.7% for AMD in fiscal year 2025. Its GAAP gross margin was 71.1%, against 49.5%. GAAP means US accounting rules, so no adjusted figures are used.
How much of AMD's revenue comes from AI chips?
AMD does not report it. Its Data Center segment, which includes server processors as well as Instinct AI accelerators, was $16.6 billion in fiscal year 2025, or 48.0% of revenue. Nvidia's Data Center line, mostly AI chips and networking, was $193.7 billion, or 89.7% of its revenue.
Which stock has returned more, Nvidia or AMD?
Nvidia returned more over the five years to 26 October 2026. A $10,000 stake bought on 26 October 2021 became $87,772 in Nvidia and $43,218 in AMD, with dividends counted. AMD returned more in 2025 and in 2026 to date. These are past returns.
Does AMD compete with Nvidia?
Yes. AMD's annual report says it competes mainly against Intel and Nvidia in its Data Center segment. That competition covers server processors, graphics chips, data processing units and AI network cards. Our post on the semiconductor value chain shows where each company sits.
DISCLAIMER: This article is strictly educational. Any information or analysis in this note is not an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. Nothing in this note is intended to be investment advice and nor should it be relied upon to make investment decisions. Any opinions, analyses, or probabilities expressed in this note are those of the author as of the note's date of publication and are subject to change without notice.
