Doug Freedman, an analyst with American Technology Research Inc., also urged AMD to make some major changes at the top amid a series of problems at the chip maker. ''We believe AMD [could] face mounting pressure from shareholders, to restructure the company with a focus on a change in leadership,'' he said.

Who could run AMD at this point? Try Jen-Hsun Huang, Nvidia's CEO.

"One candidate to consider would be Jen-Hsun Huang, who is a serial deliverer with a passion for execution and perfection. We do not believe Huang would even consider leaving nVidia to go to AMD (he told us so),'' Freedman wrote in a report.

''However, we do not believe he would walk away from the challenge of buying AMD on the cheap and turning the company around. In addition, we note that the Intel/AMD road-map of integration of the CPU/GPU could pose a risk to nVidia, and buying AMD propels nVidia into a formidable competitor for Intel with the upside coming from Huang's ability to re-architect AMD's design,'' he added in the report.

Some speculate that IBM Corp. could also buy AMD, it was noted.

For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008, Nvidia's revenue increased to a record $1.20 billion, compared to $878.9 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007, an increase of 37 percent.

Nvidia's net income computed in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 was $257.0 million, or $0.42 per diluted share, compared to net income of $163.5 million, or $0.27 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007, a net income increase of 57 percent.

Annual revenue for the fiscal year ended Jan. 27, 2008, was a record $4.10 billion, compared to revenue of $3.07 billion for the fiscal year ended Jan. 28, 2007, an increase of 34 percent. GAAP net income for the fiscal year ended January 27, 2008 was $797.6 million, or $1.31 per diluted share, compared to GAAP net income of $448.8 million, or $0.76 per diluted share, for the fiscal year ended January 28, 2007, a net income increase of 78 percent.