Can NVIDIA's Vera CPU Challenge Intel and AMD's Market Dominance?

NVIDIA Corporation NVDA is taking a bigger step into the CPU (Central Processing Unit) market with its Vera processor, designed specifically for agentic artificial intelligence (AI) workloads. The move could give NVIDIA another growth engine while increasing pressure on established server CPU leaders Intel Corporation INTC and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. AMD.

NVIDIA’s Vera CPU is up to 1.8 times faster than x86 processors on workloads. The Vera CPU is designed to work closely with NVIDIA GPUs (graphics processing units), networking and software, allowing customers to build complete AI systems rather than relying on separate CPU and accelerator platforms. This integrated approach could be particularly attractive as AI agents require more computing power for reasoning, planning and data processing.

Vera CPU is also gaining support from major technology companies. Anthropic, OpenAI and SpaceX are among the AI organizations planning to adopt the platform, while Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company, Lenovo and Super Micro Computers are preparing Vera-based systems.

NVIDIA’s AI ecosystem gives Vera CPU an additional advantage and could help it gain meaningful server CPU share. The traction of Vera CPU will further boost NVIDIA’s data center end-market business. The company’s data center revenues reached a record $75.25 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2027, rising 92% year over year.

Analysts’ projections suggest that the growth momentum in the data center business will continue. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NVIDIA’s data center revenues is pegged at $363.78 billion, indicating year-over-year growth of approximately 88%.

NVIDIA’s Rivals Have Deep CPU Expertise to Defend Their Lead

NVIDIA’s Vera CPU enters a market where Advanced Micro Devices and Intel have established customer relationships and large server CPU businesses.

AMD is the more direct growth challenger. Its data center revenues surged 107% year over year to $6.72 billion in the second quarter of 2026, driven by strong demand for EPYC processors and Instinct GPUs. Advanced Micro Devices is also seeing rising demand from AI workloads, including agentic AI, which directly overlaps with Vera’s target market. Its broad CPU-and-GPU portfolio gives customers an alternative to NVIDIA’s integrated platform.

Intel remains a major force in server CPUs through its Xeon portfolio. Its data center and AI business generated $6.26 billion in the second quarter of 2026, up 59% year over year. Intel’s latest Xeon processors are also designed to handle AI workloads, helping the company defend its position as AI increases demand for high-performance CPUs.

NVIDIA has an important advantage because Vera is designed to work closely with its GPUs, networking and software. However, AMD’s rapid growth and Intel’s large installed base mean NVIDIA will need to prove that Vera can deliver clear performance and efficiency benefits before it can seriously disrupt the CPU market.

NVIDIA’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates

Shares of NVIDIA have risen around 16.6% year to date, underperforming the Zacks Computer and Technology sector’s gain of 18.1%.

NVIDIA YTD Price Return Performance

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

From a valuation standpoint, NVDA trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93, below the sector’s average of 21.59.

NVIDIA Forward 12-Month P/E Ratio

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The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NVIDIA’s fiscal 2027 and 2028 earnings implies a year-over-year increase of approximately 90.6% and 38.3%, respectively. Estimates for fiscal 2027 and 2028 have been revised upward over the past 30 days.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

NVIDIA currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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