Advanced Micro Devices has a shaky post-earnings history
Semiconductor standout Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD) is up 4% to trade at $173.04 today, after UBS hiked its price target to $210 from $150. With the stock trading at its highest in nearly a year and the chipmaker’s second-quarter earnings report due out after the close on Aug. 5, options traders are having a field day.
AMD landed on Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White’s list of equities with the highest options volume over the past two weeks. In the last 10 sessions, the stock has seen 5,499,770 calls and 2,768,896 puts exchanged, the fourth most popular stock on the table. The weekly 7/25 167.50-strike call was the top trade during this timeframe, and looking ahead, the August 200 call is growing in popularity.
Today’s gap higher has the shares breaking out of an uptrend channel starting at their April 8 12-month low of $76.48. AMD is up 43% in 2025, yet this V-shaped rally has the stock’s 14-Day Relative Strength Index (RSI) deep in “overbought” territory at 87.
The stock has a mixed history of post-earnings reactions. The equity added 1.8% after its May 7 report, but five of the last eight reports have resulted in post-earnings move to the downside. For Wednesday morning’s trading, the options market is pricing in a 10.4% swing, regardless of direction, much larger than the average move of 6.4% in the last two years.
Even though implied volatilities (IV) are ramped up ahead of earnings, AMD’s Schaeffer’s Volatility Scorecard (SVS) sits at 90 out of 100. This indicates AMD has consistently outperformed volatility expectations in the last 12 months.