Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD)

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AMD obtains $500M credit facility, details Kaveri and Berlin CPUs
06:51 PM ET · AMD

AMD has obtained a 5-year, $500M, revolving credit facility. The chipmaker is allowed to use the facility to borrow an amount equal to 85% of "eligible" accounts receivable, minus certain reserves.
AMD, which was hit with a series of credit downgrades in late 2012 and early 2013, had over $2B in debt at the end of Q3, and expects to end Q4 with $1.2B in cash, equivalents, and marketable securities. The company carried out a couple of asset sales earlier this year to shore up its balance sheet.
Separately, AMD has announced its Kaveri CPUs (aimed at mid-range/high-end PCs) will launch on Jan. 14, and provided details about Kaveri and its next-gen Berlin server CPU platform (previous).
Kaveri and Berlin will each use AMD's 28nm Steamroller architecture, and feature the chipmaker's HSA technology, which allows a CPU and GPU cores (and, if they exist, other types of cores) to be treated as a single entity. By allowing GPU cores to be applied to CPU tasks, AMD asserts HSA can deliver big gains in performance and resource efficiency.
AMD also boasts Kaveri's built-in GPU will have 512 cores, and (like its Hawaii GPUs) support its Mantle API, which eases the process of porting console games and allows developers to provide a deeper level of hardware optimization.
Kaveri and Berlin form a big part of AMD's effort to halt PC and server CPU share losses to Intel, which retains a big manufacturing process edge. While AMD brings 28nm CPUs to market, Intel is offering CPUs based on its 2nd-gen 22nm process (Haswell), and plans to offer 14nm parts in 2H14.
Other upcoming AMD CPU platforms: Beema, Seattle
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