With the concentrated surge of AI agents (such as Claude Cowork and OpenClaw) in 2026, the bottleneck in AI computing architecture is shifting entirely from GPUs, which focus on matrix multiply-add throughput, to data center CPUs centered on control flow and task orchestration—the latter already facing supply shortages. Against this backdrop, Wall Street financial giant Citigroup has significantly raised its 12-month target prices for the two major x86 architecture CPU giants, Intel (INTC) and AMD (AMD), and has markedly increased its market size forecasts for data center CPUs and the overall CPU market.
In its report, Citigroup’s analyst team points out that agentic AI workflows will not bring linear growth to traditional server CPUs, but rather a leap in general-purpose computing density driven by multi-agent orchestration and task scheduling. The bank predicts that the total addressable market for data center server CPUs could expand from $29.3 billion in 2025 to $131.5 billion by 2030, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 35%. Within this, the data center CPU market dominated by AI agents is expected to grow exponentially at a staggering 185% CAGR, reaching $59.4 billion by 2030 and capturing 45% of the overall market, becoming the fastest-growing segment.
Based on this outlook, Citigroup has raised its target price for Intel from $95 to $130, and for AMD from $358 to $460. Meanwhile, Arm Holdings (ARM), the owner of the ARM architecture, is also highly favored, with several major Wall Street banks raising their target prices to as high as $300. The reduced instruction set architecture’s significant advantages in energy efficiency and low power consumption in AI data centers have already attracted tech giants like Amazon and Google to launch their own self-developed ARM architecture server CPUs. ARM is transforming from a mobile-side IP licensor to a core player in AI data centers.
The main theme of AI computing investment has shifted from a “GPU-centric single-point race” to an “AI agent-driven full-stack computing system.” The CPU is no longer just a general-purpose computing chip but has become the control plane processor and resource orchestration hub of the agent era. Morgan Stanley predicts that the explosion of agents will bring a CPU incremental market worth tens of billions of dollars. The well-known investment research firm GF Securities also points out that data center server CPUs are experiencing a “super cycle,” with both x86 and ARM architectures gaining unprecedented growth momentum.
