AMD Stock and Intel Crushed Nvidia in the First Half. Here's My Prediction for the Second Half.

Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) has been the "go-to" artificial intelligence (AI) stock for a number of years. Since this tech giant is the No. 1 designer of AI chips, it's generated mind-boggling revenue growth that's reached record levels and proven itself to be a winner in the AI boom. So it's no surprise that investors have turned to the stock, pushing it to a gain of about 900% over the past five years.

But in the first half of this year, a shift took place. Investors rotated out of some of the biggest AI winners -- like Nvidia -- and picked up shares of AI stocks that hadn't yet gained as much. That movement helped fellow chip companies Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) and Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) soar. Climbing 171% and 278%, respectively, in the first half, they crushed Nvidia. The AI chip giant advanced 7.2%, which is a pretty small gain for this stock.

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Will AMD and Intel keep crushing Nvidia? Here's my prediction for the second half.

The AI opportunity

Before we get to my prediction, though, let's catch up on how these companies have approached the AI opportunity so far. Nvidia was the first to market with graphics processing units (GPUs) tailored to the needs of AI, allowing the company to build out its leadership here. Intel and AMD have traditionally been leaders in another type of processor: the central processing unit (CPU), the main processor in computers.

Intel has led here for years and holds more than 59% of total CPU market share, though AMD has gained ground, progressing from a low of about 17% back in 2016 to 38% today.

The GPU was the most relevant of the two chips during the early days of AI, driving the most important tasks such as the training of AI models. And that was fantastic news for Nvidia. AMD and Intel entered the GPU market later, and while AMD has successfully delivered growth here, Intel has experienced difficulty.

That said, Intel aims to turn this around and has taken key steps. The company appointed new chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan a little over a year ago to drive the company's turnaround strategy and strengthen its position in the AI market, and investors like the progress so far and the good news that's emerged. The U.S. government took a 10% stake in Intel last summer, worth about $10 billion -- a sign of confidence that investors appreciated. In the latest quarter, Intel's revenue climbed 7%, and this was the sixth straight quarter of revenue that beat the company's expectations.