AMD’s next product boosts its earnings

The roller coaster that is AMD’s stock price surged again Wednesday morning as it reached levels it hasn’t seen in more than nine years.

By 11 a.m., the stock sat at $11.60 per share, up more than 10 percent from its closing price Tuesday of $10.37.

An earnings report Tuesday showed a net loss of $51 million for the company but President and CEO Lisa Su said the company plans to release two new processors this quarter.

AMD has been battling two rivals to build processors that power some of the world’s advanced technology, including virtual reality and artificial intelligence.

Its Ryzen computer processor should be available in March.

“We remain on track to launch Ryzen in early March, with widespread system and channel availability expected on day one,” Su said, according to a transcript of the earnings call.

AMD, which employs about 200 in Central Florida, has been steeped in a battle for control of the microprocessor market with Intel and Nvidia.

It’s been a decades-long battle that has been recently dominated by Intel, which in November held about 71 percent of the market share.

AMD held 13 percent of the market and Nvidia 16 percent in November.

The company that plans to build a 100,000-squarefoot, $85-million complex on Florida’s Space Coast has received the financing needed to pay for construction on its own.

Previously, Space Florida had pursued a $3 million bridge loan on behalf of Airbus OneWeb. Payment of the loan was to be split between OneWeb and Space Florida. Since then, OneWeb announced that it had secured $1.2 billion in financing from Japan’s Softbank, among others.

Space Florida’s board of directors approved the arrangement during a meeting Wednesday in Orlando.

The board also changed the agency’s master plan and $573,321 for consulting services related to environmental upgrades on the shuttle landing facility.

The $3 million bridge loan ended up being unnecessary, Space Florida’s Dale Ketcham said, because OneWeb has secured a $42.5 million from outside financiers.

OneWeb is expected to open a location this year, bringing hundreds of jobs with it.

Lockheed Martin has landed a $166 million contract and officials expect more than one-third of the work to be done in Orlando.

The company’s Rotary and Mission System’s division will help Lockheed fill a 36-unit order of what’s known as the electronic Consolidated Automated Support System.

eCASS, as its known, supports all of the U.S. Navy’s electronics on aircraft, ships and submarines. It automates testing at sea and land, which gives personnel a chance to make sure all systems are ready for use when needed. The work is expected to be done by January 2021.

Lockheed Martin employs about 7,000 people here.