So far, the start of the year has been standout for Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD). The shares are up about 17.5% so far. Hey, AMD stock is even higher than rival, NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), which has gained 13%.

Of course, short-term swings are fairly common. And yes, as we saw last year, AMD stock is prone to taking some dives. Yet for those investors with a longer-term approach, there should still be more upside.

Now the recent strength in AMD has much to do with the stumble from Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), whose chips have notable flaws that could allow hackers to access passwords. While there are fixes, they may ultimately result in the slowing of machines of as much as 30%. Wall Street reacted quickly, with INTC stock dropping over 6%.

As for how this may play out for AMD stock, it’s tough to tell. Keep in mind that the company’s own chips have issues as well. Although, they do not appear to be as bad as INTC’s. Note that  Bernstein’s Stacy Rasgon has indicated that the impact is “neutral-ish to (maybe?) slightly positive.”

But the negative PR could ultimately mean that more customers will consider AMD’s offerings. What’s more, it certainly helps that the company has been aggressive with its innovation.

Here are the main technologies that should help drive AMD stock:

• Vega: This high-end graphics processing unit (GPU) is for gaming, VR (Virtual Reality), machine learning and professional design. The Vega platform has a sophisticated memory architecture that allows transferring terabytes of data every second as well as next-generation geometries and compute engines.
• Ryzen: This is a family of advanced CPUs, which has gotten traction with the desktop market. But AMD has also been focused on mobile. To this end, the company’s Ryzen chips will be available this quarter for ultra-thin and two-in-one notebooks for companies like Lenovo and HP Inc (NYSE:HPQ).
• Epyc: This technology is for the massive datacenter opportunity, which is dominated by INTC. Already AMD has been getting results, as the company has struck deals with high-profile customers like JD.Com Inc (ADR)(NASDAQ:JD), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Baidu Inc (ADR)(NASDAQ:BIDU) and Tencent Holdings Ltd (OTCMKTS:TCEHY). According to CEO Lisa Su: “We remain confident and focused on the steady expansion of our datacenter presence over the coming quarters based on the high-performance and rich feature set of the EPYC product.”

Bottom Line On AMD Stock

AMD stock is certainly not without its risks. Let’s face it, the company is a relatively small operator. It is also involved in various categories that have strong competitors like NVDA and INTC. In other words, there is a risk of not having enough resources and managerial bandwidth to succeed.

But then again, it is encouraging that Su is pursing a bold strategy. She is willing to make bets on important growth markets – and push the boundaries of technologies. Ultimately, this is the way to win. There is really no room to play safe.

Besides, AMD is targeting massive market segments. According to the company’s most recent investor presentation, the PC market is at $28 billion, immersive is roughly $15 billion and the datacenter category is $21 billion. So yes, there is more than enough to move the needle for AMD stock.

But of course, expect the volatility to continue, as the company is still in the midst of major changes. yet for investors that are patient, it should be worth the wait.

Tom Taulli is the author of High-Profit IPO Strategies, All About Commodities and All About Short Selling. Follow him on Twitter at @ttaulli. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.