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AMD benefits from Bitcoin's renewed rise

Dion Rabouin, author of Markets
Expand chart
Data: FactSet; Chart: Axios Visuals

Everything is going right so far this year for Advanced Micro Devices. The company's stock price rose more than 3% on Wednesday, continuing to shake off trade war fears and pushing back towards a 13-year high touched in June.

The state of play: AMD is benefiting from renewed interest in Bitcoin, which has soared to nearly $13,000 per coin. The company doubled down in November when cryptocurrencies were left for dead, launching a spate of new Bitcoin and blockchain tools.

  • The company is also winning on gaming, selected by Microsoft as the chipmaker for its next-generation Xbox console, to be released during the 2020 holiday season. Sony is also expected to use AMD chips in its next PlayStation.

What they're saying: Analysts at Morgan Stanley, long-time bears on the company, said earlier this month they had made the "wrong call" on the stock and raised their price target to $28 a share.

  • Nomura analysts expect "new processor families scheduled for launch by Intel and AMD in 2H19 and 1H20 offer significantly larger steps up in technology and design than products released by the companies in 2018."

Go deeper: Bitcoin is losing its Wall Street buy-in

Go deeper

Jonathan Swan
9 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Scoop: Gina Haspel threatened to resign over plan to install Kash Patel as CIA deputy

CIA Director Gina Haspel. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

CIA Director Gina Haspel threatened to resign in early December after President Trump cooked up a hasty plan to install loyalist Kash Patel, a former aide to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), as her deputy, according to three senior administration officials with direct knowledge of the matter.

Why it matters: The revelation stunned national security officials and almost blew up the leadership of the world's most powerful spy agency. Only a series of coincidences — and last minute interventions from Vice President Mike Pence and White House counsel Pat Cipollone — stopped it.

Go deeper (3 min. read)Arrow
Axios
Updated 11 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Health: Coronavirus deaths reach 4,000 per day as hospitals remain in crisis mode — CDC warns highly transmissible coronavirus variant could become dominant in U.S. in March.
  2. Politics: Biden says, "We will manage the hell out of" vaccine distribution — Biden taps ex-FDA chief to lead Operation Warp Speed amid rollout of COVID plan — Widow of GOP congressman-elect who died of COVID-19 will run to fill his seat.
  3. Vaccine: Battling Black mistrust of the vaccines — "Pharmacy deserts" could become vaccine deserts — Instacart to give $25 to shoppers who get vaccine.
  4. Economy: Unemployment filings explode again — Fed chair: No interest rate hike coming any time soon —  Inflation rose more than expected in December.
  5. World: WHO team arrives in China to investigate pandemic origins.
Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
Lachlan Markay
11 hours ago - Politics & Policy

John Weaver, Lincoln Project co-founder, acknowledges “inappropriate” messages

John Weaver aboard John McCain's campaign plane in February 2000. Photo: Robert Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)

John Weaver, a veteran Republican operative who co-founded the Lincoln Project, declared in a statement to Axios on Friday that he sent “inappropriate,” sexually charged messages to multiple men.

  • “To the men I made uncomfortable through my messages that I viewed as consensual mutual conversations at the time: I am truly sorry. They were inappropriate and it was because of my failings that this discomfort was brought on you,” Weaver said.
  • “The truth is that I'm gay,” he added. “And that I have a wife and two kids who I love. My inability to reconcile those two truths has led to this agonizing place.”
Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow

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