Good News Watch: Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Since Its Third Quarter Earnings Report

Its been about two weeks since the latest earnings report from Advanced Micro Devices, Inc (NYSE: AMD) which sent the stock lower yet again. I should mention that we have had AMD in our SmallCap Network Elite Opportunity (SCN EO) portfolio since mid-July and its been a rollercoaster ride for the past few months because the summer earnings report (which appeared on the same day as some other disappointing earnings reports) erased our gains, which we then made back – only to have those gains erased again with the latest earnings report (See my previous article: Time to be Bullish, Bearish or Just Realistic? Advanced Micro Devices' (AMD) Third Quarter Earnings Report). Nevertheless, we still think the company represents a good value opportunity as it continues to transition away from dependence on the PC and into mobility and gaming consoles. With that in mind, here is the latest important news about AMD for investors and traders to hit the newswires since earnings:

The New AMD Radeon R9 290X Graphics Card is Launched. Last Thursday, Advanced Micro Devices announced the launch of the AMD Radeon™ R9 290X graphics card and already there are some good reviews with Vlad Savov writing one for TheVerge.com under the headline: "AMD's latest graphics card is a steal at $549" Should You Buy An AMD R9 290X Or Nvidia GTX 780? On Monday, Forbes contributor Jason Evangelho wrote a lengthy piece comparing NVIDIA Corporation's (NASDAQ: NVDA) GTX 780 with AMD's R9 290x where he noted that 24 hours ago, his results would have led to a dramatically different conclusion:

Buy AMD's 290x since it's $100 cheaper and offers comparable, if not superior, performance to its closest competitor. With this morning's aggressive price cut, however, Nvidia may be causing droves of tech journalists to revisit their 290x reviews. As things stand now, Nvidia's GTX 780 is $499, while AMD's R9 290x is $549. Make no mistake: both cards are a steal at these pricepoints.

Jason then asked the retorical question of what happens if AMD drops the 290x to $499 or if they suddenly include the 290x in their Radeon Rewards Gold bundle. His conclusion? "…it may come down to simple allegiance, impulse and sales…"

Bulls Outnumber Bears on Options Trades. Schaeffer's Trading Floor Blog pointed out last Friday that bullish bets are more popular than bearish on Advanced Micro Devices traders have bought to open 5.74 calls for every put during the past 10 sessions according to data from the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). Apparently, this ratio stands in the 60th percentile of its annual range – meaning there is a slightly healthier-than-usual appetite for calls over puts. With that said, AMD's 10-day call/put volume ratio is down considerably from its October 17th when it stood at 6.73 right before its latest earnings report. Share Performance. Advanced Micro Devices is up 46% since the start of the year, up 60.9% over the past year and up 9.9% over the past five years:

Finally, here is a look at the latest technical chart for AMD:

Again, we are looking at AMD as a longer term bet rather than a quick trading opportunity – meaning the short term ups and downs aren't so important for us.

SmallCap Network Elite Opportunity (SCN EO) has an open position in AMD. To find out what other open positions SCN EO currently has, and to learn why so many traders and investors are relying on this premium subscription service, click here to find out more.