It’s the big comeback of CPUs and memory in the era of agentic AI.
Following the euphoria around generative AI and the surge in GPU demand, CPUs and memory are regaining value in the stock market as in earnings reports.
Intel, AMD and Micron are benefiting from a common undercurrent: the rise of agentic AI, data centers, and demand for more balanced computing capacity.
The market had believed traditional processors would be relegated behind GPUs, essential for training AI models. But the ascent of AI agents is changing the game. There is now a need to orchestrate more tasks, more data flows, and more inferences, which restores the importance of CPUs in data centers.
Intel summarizes this shift by noting that the CPU-to-GPU ratio in certain uses has moved from 1 to 8 to 1 to 4, with a trend that could further favor processors. AMD shares this view and has raised its forecast for CPU market growth to 35% per year on average through 2030.
This rebound rests primarily on data centers, where AI-oriented CPUs are stepping in for a more lethargic PC activity.
Intel has also raised its prices, redirected its production toward Xeon, and attempted to regain industrial leverage with its new 18A fabrication process. By contrast, its financial results remain fragile, with margins climbing slowly and the PC legacy business continuing to show limited dynamism.
CPUs Return to the Center of the Game
AMD also benefits from the turnaround, but with a clearer sales momentum than just a market cap move. In the first quarter of 2026, the group posted $10.3 billion in revenue, up 38% year over year, including $5.8 billion from the Epyc server CPUs and Instinct GPUs, a 57% year-over-year rise.
This data-center activity now accounts for 56% of AMD’s revenue, underscoring its reliance on AI for growth.
Micron is not a CPU maker in the strict sense, but its trajectory is tied to the same cycle. Memory has become a bottleneck for AI, and the market rewards suppliers capable of supporting the surge in servers and accelerators.
In 2025, Micron was among the biggest beneficiaries in the tech stock market, driven by demand for memory chips complementary to GPUs used in AI. In other words, the rebound touches the entire ecosystem that feeds them with bandwidth and fast storage.
This movement does not erase weaknesses. Intel remains the actor most exposed to delivering on its roadmap, AMD must translate its solid commercial momentum into durable market-share gains, and Micron remains highly cyclical despite AI-related demand.
But for the moment, markets have spoken: processors and memory are no longer “secondary” segments. They are once again strategic assets, backed by a new phase of AI where the ability to orchestrate calculations matters as much as raw processing power.
