The rise of agentic artificial intelligence is set to significantly accelerate demand by expanding the role of central processing units, creating opportunities for x86 vendors and ARM-based competitors, BofA Securities said in a note Thursday.

The analysts said that, based on their discussions at the BofA Global Technology Conference, they have increased their 2030 estimate for the server CPU total addressable market to more than $170 billion, up from their previous estimate of $125 billion.

This forecast implies nearly fivefold growth from current levels and a 37% compound annual growth rate between BofA's 2025 estimate and 2030 estimate, compared with its prior growth estimate of 29% CAGR, the analysts added.

The analysts said Intel (INTC) could generate more than $6 in earnings per share by 2030, up from their previous expectation of $3 to $4, although successful execution remains critical. Nvidia (NVDA) remains their top overall semiconductor pick due to its leadership across the entire AI technology stack, including CPUs, GPUs, networking, software, and AI platforms.

BofA raised Advanced Micro Devices' (AMD) price target to $560 from $500 and Arm's (ARM) price target to $335 from $245. Intel was double-upgraded to buy and assigned a $135 price target, while Qualcomm (QCOM) remains rated underperform.

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