Robinhood investors are scooping up AMD after its new chip announcement
- Robinhood, the app popular among young investors, has seen a sharp increase in the number of accounts holding AMD.
- The rise in investor interest follows the chipmaker's recent announcement of a new chip.
- Watch AMD trade live.
Users of the Robinhood trading app have upped their holdings in AMD, following the company's announcement that its processing chips have finally taken the performance crown from arch-rival Intel. Robinhood, which offers fee-free trading, is popular with younger investors with the average account holder aging 32.
The number of accounts holding AMD leapt by 4% over the last week, rising to 166,000. AMD is the ninth-most-popular stock on the platform while Intel lags in the 39th spot. Fellow chipmaker Nvidia is in the 25th spot with 101,000 users.
AMD shares leapt more than 10% earlier this week after the company announced the launch of its new Ryzen chip series. According to AMD, the chips outperformed arch-rival Intel in the critical computer-processing segment. The product capabilities were detailed by AMD CEO Lisa Su at a trade show in Taiwan.
"This announcement represents the first time AMD has taken the desktop CPU process-technology and performance lead from Intel in its 50-year history," said Stifel analyst Kevin Cassidy.
AMD has recently notched important customer wins, including the selection of its chips by Google for the search giant's new streaming-video-gaming platform. The chipmaker also announced a partnership with Cray to develop a $600 million supercomputer for the Department of Energy.
Su said the project is expected to boost the chip giant's competitiveness in important areas.
"High performance computing and AI are very important for AMD from a strategic standpoint," Su told Business Insider. "This is the largest supercomputing deal we've had."
Robinhood users have also been increasing their allocations to Tesla amid the company's severe volatility over the past few months. Tesla has faced serious questions of demand for its electric vehicles, causing the stock price to drop 47% over the past six months.
Robinhood accounts users appear to be keeping the faith in the electric vehicle maker. The number of accounts holding Tesla has risen by more than 10% in May alone. Tesla is now held in 161,000 accounts, securing its spot in the top 10 most widely held stocks.
