Overview
- Bank of America published a research note on Friday, August 14, 2026, that raised its 2030 server CPU total addressable market to over $210 billion and lifted the CPU compound annual growth rate to 36%.
- The firm projects the full data‑center systems market will reach $2.2 trillion by 2030, with roughly $1.7 trillion tied to AI‑specific systems and CPUs rising to about 10% of that total.
- Analysts say agentic AI workloads that run more autonomous agents are shifting the CPU:GPU deployment mix from about 1:4 toward roughly 1:1 because CPUs handle orchestration and control tasks.
- BofA pointed to near‑record GPU rental rates and surging memory spot prices as signs of constrained compute capacity, and it expects hyperscalers to spend heavily, forecasting combined capex above $700 billion in 2026.
- The bank named AMD its preferred CPU stock and kept Nvidia as its top semiconductor pick, while flagging Intel foundry optionality and Arm’s share‑gain trajectory as industry dynamics to watch.