How 'Agentic AI' is reviving classic tech stocks like Dell and Intel

The new phase of "agentic AI" is driving demand for central processing units (CPUs) and computer memory hardware, and that's resurrecting some older tech stocks that had taken a back seat for several years. Shares of Dell Technologies closed 33% higher on Friday, its best day ever , after it reported surging revenue growth. Intel stock went parabolic in April and early May. Chipmaker AMD soared 74% in April and 46% in May. Computer systems are increasingly being designed for AI robots – or "agents" – not human users. The shift is requiring a greater number of more traditional central processors and memory units relative to newer graphics processing units (GPUs), which drove the first phase of the AI buildout. The new type of design accommodates a processing workflow known as orchestration , which Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang highlighted in a speech in Taiwan over the weekend. "[The] orchestration path is orchestrated by some software. And so this is fundamentally an agent. It deals with short-term memory called working memory [and] long-term memory … and so the memory management system is incredibly important," Huang said. Analysts said Monday that CPU-driven orchestration could represent a new "computing model." "Mr. Huang outlined the way agentic AI is driving a 'new computing model' – a paradigm shift that will require a significant amount of CPU performance," Aaron Rakers at Wells Fargo wrote Monday. …