Four Semiconductor Stocks Set to Benefit from the Rise of AI Agents

Muse, Meta’s artificial intelligence (AI) agent, has taken the world by storm since its introduction last month. With over 2 million daily active users as of October 5th and sitting atop Apple’s App Store for most downloaded apps, it is clear that consumer interest in AI agents is growing rapidly.

The agentic AI market is expected to explode with the emergence of consumer, enterprise, and small-business AI agents. However, before these AI agents can take over, they will require a significant increase in central processing units (CPUs) to power them.

While graphics processing units (GPUs) are used for training AI models and running inference, they fall short when it comes to providing the sequential logic required by AI agents. This is where server CPUs come into play, as their demand is expected to surge with the growth of agentic AI.

The ratio of GPUs to CPUs is anticipated to drop from 8:1 for AI model training and 4:1 for inference to a more balanced 1:1 for servers dedicated to AI agents. This shift in market dynamics will have significant implications for the data center CPU industry, with Bank of America projecting growth from around $61.4 billion this year to $210.6 billion by 2030.

This projection is consistent with Nvidia’s and Advanced Micro Devices’ (AMD) own estimates of a $220 billion server CPU market in 2030. With such substantial growth on the horizon, it is essential to identify which semiconductor stocks will benefit most from this trend.

Among these companies, Arm Holdings stands out as one that will significantly profit from the rise of agentic AI and subsequent surge in server CPU demand. The company generates revenue through licensing and subscriptions for its custom CPUs, with nearly all custom CPUs relying on its intellectual property (IP).

In addition to providing IP, Arm has recently announced plans to start manufacturing its own server CPUs, marking a significant shift in the company’s business strategy. This move is expected to further solidify Arm’s position as a leader in the data center CPU market.

Bank of America projects that custom Arm-based chips will capture nearly 38% of the server CPU market by 2030, while Arm’s new mass-market chip will take an additional 9.4%. These numbers demonstrate the company’s potential to capitalize on the growing demand for server CPUs and AI agents.

AMD is another semiconductor stock poised to benefit from this trend. The company has consistently taken share from rival Intel over the past few years and has already designed high-performance CPUs with high core counts specifically for agentic AI workloads. With its strong market position, AMD looks well-positioned to continue taking a significant share of the server CPU market.

Bank of America estimates that AMD’s market share will climb from 27.7% this year to 30.7% in 2030, indicating a steady increase in the company’s dominance within the industry. Additionally, AMD has an opportunity to grow its AI inference business with its GPUs, providing another significant growth driver for the company.

Intel is currently the market share leader in the data center CPU space, holding over 40% of the market as of 2025. However, Bank of America projects that Intel’s market share will drop to around 22% by 2030 due to increased competition from other companies like AMD and Arm Holdings.

Nvidia has also developed its own Arm-based CPUs, which it sells as standalone chips or packaged with GPUs in server racks. While this positions Nvidia well for the growing demand of AI agents, its GPU revenue will likely continue to overshadow its CPU opportunity.