After gaining 7% during the August 4 session and meeting the closing bell at $518.58, Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) stock reversed in the after-hours and plummeted 8.80% to $472.94 by press time on August 5.
Notably, the AMD share price crash came after the semiconductor giant reported seemingly blockbuster earnings. The firm recorded significant growth relative to the same period one year prior and beat Wall Street expectations for revenue and earnings per share (EPS).
Specifically, the blue-chip chipmaker’s sales came in at $11.54 billion, and EPS ran as high as $1.66. Analysts were anticipating $11.28 billion and $1.62, respectively.
Additionally, AMD’s guidance for the current quarter was at $13 billion, well above the $12.52 billion forecasts but below the most optimistic $14 billion projections. Finally, the semiconductor giant announced it anticipates its data center sales to double in 2027.
Is Elon Musk behind the AMD stock crash?
Simultaneously, the earnings report left the question of why AMD stock fell wide open.
Though the firm’s capital expenditures (CapEx) indeed soared from $282 million to $808 million within a year, the number remained sufficiently small to appear a poor justification for the selloff.
Indeed, if there is a singular reason for the selloff, it could be remarks made by Elon Musk in the context of the SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) quarterly report made on the same day.
According to the world’s first trillionaire, his newer public company has committed to using Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) chips only ‘because they are the best’.
While the proclamation has little material impact on AMD for the time being – and SpaceX’s fairly small artificial intelligence (AI) footprint diminishes the possible long-term effect – Musk has historically had a strong impact on retail investors.
Still, it is also possible that, between the recent AI expenditure anxiety and the general trends and hopes for hardware critical for the technology, trader expectations for the quarter far exceeded Wall Street forecasts, making Advanced Micro Devices effectively underperform.
AMD stock remains top 2026 performer despite latest plunge
Lastly, despite the steep extended-session decline, AMD stock remains one of the best-performing blue-chips of 2026. Specifically, the chipmaker’s equity is 132% in the green year-to-date (YTD) relative to the latest closing price of $518.58.
Furthermore, even once the post-earnings drop is accounted for, the move set back the stock by less than a week and brought it close to the prices recorded at the end of July.
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