As we gear up for another exciting tech earnings season, it’s clear that AI will take center stage once again. One company that everyone has their eye on is Nvidia (NVDA).
Nvidia’s stock has surged over 16% in the past month, putting it on track to surpass Apple as the largest publicly traded company by market capitalization. This spike was fueled by CEO Jensen Huang’s announcement that demand for the upcoming Blackwell chip is “insane,” as reported in an interview with CNBC on Oct. 3. While Nvidia’s shares initially climbed 18% to $130, concerns about potential caps on AI chip shipments to certain countries briefly stalled the rally before bouncing back.
The company’s impressive stock performance and significant growth in data center sales have set high expectations for its upcoming earnings announcement, which has yet to be officially scheduled. In the company’s fiscal Q3 2024, overall revenue soared 206% to $18.1 billion, with data center revenue rising by a staggering 279% to $14.5 billion. However, Nvidia may face challenges as its growth rate is expected to slow compared to the previous year, which could unsettle investors.
Looking back at Nvidia’s Q2 earnings in August, despite beating revenue and earnings per share expectations, the stock dipped more than 6% immediately following the announcement. It took over a month for the stock price to recover fully.
While Nvidia continues to shine, other chip companies have also seen notable movements. Broadcom’s shares surged 59% year to date, Qualcomm climbed 19%, and AMD added 6% to its stock price. On the other hand, Intel faced a significant decline of 55%.
Investors will closely monitor Nvidia’s upcoming earnings for insights into continued AI spending by key players like Microsoft, Google, Meta, and Amazon. They will also assess how other chip companies perform in anticipation of Nvidia’s announcement, which typically comes later in the earnings cycle than its peers.
As the tech earnings season unfolds, all eyes will be on Nvidia and its Blackwell chip rollout. Any updates on supply constraints, similar to those experienced with the Hopper chips, will be closely watched. It’s bound to be an eventful few weeks ahead, so buckle up for the ride.