Nomura Comments On Advanced Micro Devices Buyout Rumors, Notes Company 'Could Be Of Great Interest' To Chinese Buyer

Shares of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. AMD rose on Monday following a report that China-based BLX IC Design Corp is interested in acquiring the company.

Sanjay Chaurasia of Nomura on Tuesday commented in a note that Advanced Micro Devices and BLX IC Design have worked together in the past and opened a joint development center in Beijing, China back in 2003.

“We believe AMD's knowhow in servers and GPU technology (for supercomputing and HPC) could be of great interest to China, which has been trying to develop these technologies internally for years,” Chaurasia wrote.

The analyst does add that it may be difficult to value Advanced Micro Devices given the uncertainty around validity of its x86 license, GPU server server/dense server know-how, the company's cores, several IPs but a buyout price “could support a valuation that may reward current AMD shareholders.”

Shares are Neutral rated with a $3 price target.