Dejan_Dundjerski/iStock via Getty Images Introduction Nvidia ( NVDA ) is probably the best company in AI today. Its growth, margins, and scale are extraordinary, and its CUDA ecosystem has created a level of network effect and the resultant customer lock-in that few companies have ever achieved. However, if I were forced to choose between the two stocks, I would still rather own Advanced Micro Dev...
Dejan_Dundjerski/iStock via Getty Images Introduction Nvidia ( NVDA ) is probably the best company in AI today. Its growth, margins, and scale are extraordinary, and its CUDA ecosystem has created a level of network effect and the resultant customer lock-in that few companies have ever achieved. However, if I were forced to choose between the two stocks, I would still rather own Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ). The reason is not that AMD is better. It is because Nvidia’s valuation assumes that its current unchallenged dominance will persist for a long time to come, which will require it to continue to capture a disproportionate share of the economic value created by the AI boom in the long term, an unlikely feat to accomplish. The Business Fundamental Gap And The Valuation Disparity Let’s begin with the numbers. As indicated in the following table (all tables herein compiled from Seeking Alpha Peer Comparison function), AMD’s market capitalization is roughly $360 billion. Nvidia stands at approximately $4.4 trillion. That is more than a tenfold difference. AMD NVDA Market Cap 359.13B 4.34T TTM Revenue $34.6B $215.9B Cash From Operations $7.7B $102.7B Enterprise Value 352.58B 4.29T Employees 31,000 42,000 Click to enlarge Nvidia generates about five times the revenue, roughly $215.9 billion compared to $34.6 billion for AMD during the trailing 12 months, and approximately fifteen times the cash from operations, about $102.7 billion versus $7.7 billion. Yet the two companies employ a similar number of people—about 31,000 at AMD and 42,000 at Nvidia. The profitability gap, as demonstrated in the table below, is even more striking. Nvidia operates with gross margins above 70% and net margins above 50%, while AMD’s corresponding figures are approximately 51% and 9.6%. Fueled by about 3 times the asset turnover rate of AMD, the return on equity of Nvidia dwarfs the corresponding measures of AMD by about 15 times. NVDA AMD Gross Profit Margin 71.07% 52.49% Net Income Margin...
Dejan_Dundjerski/iStock via Getty Images Introduction Nvidia ( NVDA ) is probably the best company in AI today. Its growth, margins, and scale are extraordinary, and its CUDA ecosystem has created a level of network effect and the resultant customer lock-in that few companies have ever achieved. However, if I were forced to choose between the two stocks, I would still rather own Advanced Micro Dev...
Dejan_Dundjerski/iStock via Getty Images Introduction Nvidia ( NVDA ) is probably the best company in AI today. Its growth, margins, and scale are extraordinary, and its CUDA ecosystem has created a level of network effect and the resultant customer lock-in that few companies have ever achieved. However, if I were forced to choose between the two stocks, I would still rather own Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ). The reason is not that AMD is better. It is because Nvidia’s valuation assumes that its current unchallenged dominance will persist for a long time to come, which will require it to continue to capture a disproportionate share of the economic value created by the AI boom in the long term, an unlikely feat to accomplish. The Business Fundamental Gap And The Valuation Disparity Let’s begin with the numbers. As indicated in the following table (all tables herein compiled from Seeking Alpha Peer Comparison function), AMD’s market capitalization is roughly $360 billion. Nvidia stands at approximately $4.4 trillion. That is more than a tenfold difference. AMD NVDA Market Cap 359.13B 4.34T TTM Revenue $34.6B $215.9B Cash From Operations $7.7B $102.7B Enterprise Value 352.58B 4.29T Employees 31,000 42,000 Click to enlarge Nvidia generates about five times the revenue, roughly $215.9 billion compared to $34.6 billion for AMD during the trailing 12 months, and approximately fifteen times the cash from operations, about $102.7 billion versus $7.7 billion. Yet the two companies employ a similar number of people—about 31,000 at AMD and 42,000 at Nvidia. The profitability gap, as demonstrated in the table below, is even more striking. Nvidia operates with gross margins above 70% and net margins above 50%, while AMD’s corresponding figures are approximately 51% and 9.6%. Fueled by about 3 times the asset turnover rate of AMD, the return on equity of Nvidia dwarfs the corresponding measures of AMD by about 15 times. NVDA AMD Gross Profit Margin 71.07% 52.49% Net Income Margin...