Advanced Micro Devices leads chip gains as Intel looks to Italy for help
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Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) was the top gaining stock in the semiconductor industry on Thursday, as analysts noted that its recent results, when coupled with weakness from Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), are likely to play out in AMD's favor.
Baird analyst Tristan Gerra, who recently downgraded Intel (INTC) after the company's disappointing second-quarter, noted that AMD (AMD) is likely to see further gains in the server market due to product delays at the Pat Gelsinger-led Intel (INTC).
"Intel's further push out of Sapphire Rapids, which is rapidly becoming a stale product before even launching, likely significantly accelerates server customer migration to AMD in 2023 in our view, and we expect meaningful market share gains as a result," Gerra wrote in a note to clients.
Gerra added that AMD's (AMD) fundamentals "continue to strengthen" and even though it is not immune to a slowdown in the PC market and consumer GPUs, is well positioned.
AMD (AMD) shares gained nearly 6% to $103.83 in mid-day trading, while competitor Nvidia (NVDA) tacked on nearly 1.5% to $191.64.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) slipped on Wednesday as concerns over third-quarter guidance outweighed the company's strong second-quarter results.
Intel (INTC) fell more than 1.5% to $36.63 even as the company is reportedly close to a $5B deal with the Italian government to build a packaging and assembly plant in the country.
The Italian government could fund as much as 40% of Intel's (INTC) investment in the country, Reuters reported, with the figure rising from $5B over time. 
The plant is part of the semiconductor giant's plan to invest $88B in Europe over the next decade and both parties hope to have a deal in place by the end of August.
Other semiconductor stocks were largely higher on Thursday, including modest gains for Broadcom (AVGO), Micron Technology (MU), Qualcomm (QCOM) and Texas Instruments (TXN).
ON Semiconductor (ON), NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) and Microchip (MCHP) saw fractional losses.
Several Wall Street analysts praised AMD (AMD) after the company's quarterly results, including Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore, who said the figures and outlook were "impressive," citing the current environment.