AMD has released its Q2 fiscal year 2016 results and in a slightly shocking turn of events has actually managed to crawl into the black after years of losses. AMD’s revenue was $1.027 billion over the last three months, up 9% year on year and 23% from the last quarter. The launch of its eagerly anticipated first Polaris chip is partly responsible, with the Radeon RX 480 met with favourable reviews and keen consumer interest.

Non-GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) income was $3 million for the quarter, while GAAP was an $8 million deficit. Overall net income was $69 million over the period.

AMD Share Price Over Q3 2016

AMD Share Price Since Last Year

You can see the chart above the impressive turnaround AMD has achieved over the past 12 months, effectively almost trebling its market value since the launch the RX 300 series last year. Polaris looks as if it could be the real winner though, targeting impressive price to performance ratios away from the enthusiast end of the market.

“In the second quarter we accomplished a significant milestone as we returned to non-GAAP operating profitability based on solid execution and strong demand for our semi-custom and graphics products,” said AMD CEO Lisa Su. “Based on the strength of our semi-custom products and demand for our latest Radeon RX GPUs and 7th Generation A-Series APUs, we are well positioned to drive growth and market share gains in the second half of the year.”

When Su talks about semi-custom graphics products this relates to the APUs built in conjunction with Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Wii U respectively. While the Xbox One and Wii U are floundering, impressive sales of the PS4 will have certainly helped AMD. There’s also the possibility all three may have finalised design and production of new graphics chips based on the Polaris architecture for their upcoming consoles.

What certainly points to something along these lines is the massive jump in semi-custom revenue from $373 million in Q1 up to the $592 in Q2. This could be the console manufacturers ramping up supplies for the holiday season, or it could be indicative of a new batch of consoles.

Good news for team red at last, do you think it's well deserved after the Radeon RX 480? How will it fare over the next year with Vega and Zen? Let us know what you think below!