AMD Cites 'Absence' of GPU Sales to Crypto Miners in Q1 Estimate
AMD's revenue from cryptocurrency miners has seemingly gone dry, the company said in its Q4 earnings report.
:format(jpg)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/coindesk/7YSYBSPV2RGFRGXTRYB2JO7UDQ.jpg)
Graphics card maker AMD announced its "highest profitability in [seven] years" Tuesday, but expects its revenue to drop next quarter due at least in part to falling demand from cryptocurrency miners.
The company brought in $1.42 billion in revenue last quarter, for a 2018 total of $6.48 billion – well above 2017's total of $5.25 billion, AMD said in its Tuesday earnings release.
That said, AMD still missed its target revenue by some $20 million, and the release suggested that its revenue from the crypto mining space has disappeared entirely.
"For the first quarter of 2019, AMD expects revenue to be approximately $1.25 billion, plus or minus $50 million, a decrease of approximately 12 percent sequentially and 24 percent year-over-year," AMD stated, going on to explain:
The company has been warning that demand from the mining sector might disappear for more than a year now. CEO Lisa Su said as far back as October 2017 that the company was "predicting that there will be some leveling-off of some of the cryptocurrency demand."
The company reiterated this prediction in its annual 10-K filing last year when it explained that "the cryptocurrency market is unstable and demand could change quickly."
The company's GPU sales might suffer from drops in this demand, AMD said at the time.
AMD's subsequent earnings reports proved these predictions accurate. While GPU sales to cryptocurrency miners made up 10 percent of the company's total sales in that area during the first quarter of 2018, the sector's market share went on to drop over the next several months.
AMD's revenue from crypto miners was "negligible" in Q3 of 2018, the company announced last October.
AMD image via JHVEPhoto / Shutterstock
DISCLOSURE
Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.
The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG.
Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk’s longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.