For the first three weeks of August, the artificial intelligence furor that powered markets all year turned cold. Nvidia Corp. just stoked the coals.
The chipmaker surged as much as 10% in late trading after delivering sales that topped its own lofty projections on the strength of demand for all things AI. The report also boosted fellow chipmakers including Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Broadcom Inc. Futures on the Nasdaq 100 were up about 1% as of 8:55 a.m. in Hong Kong on Thursday while contracts on the S&P 500 Index rose 0.5%
On track for its worst month of the year and offering investors little reason for optimism just days ago, the Nasdaq 100 now has a chance to shift course as Nvidia’s results allay, for now, worries that tech valuations have become unmoored from reality. After roaring to its best first half on record amid speculation AI will deliver riches to a swath of tech giants, the index slumped for three weeks as investors fretted over the threat of a recession and rising bond yields.
Nvidia’s results show “that betting on AI is paying off today,” said Thomas Monteiro, senior analyst at Investing.com. “This is a big deal because it validates the narrative that has been propping tech stocks in general this year.”
Nvidia said sales will be about $16 billion in the three months ending in October. Analysts had estimated roughly $12.5 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Nvidia also approved an additional $25 billion in stock buybacks.
After falling 4% from a peak last month, the Nasdaq 100 is priced at 24 times projected profits for the next 12 months. That’s down from 27 times in July, but above the benchmark’s average of 21 times over the past decade.
In addition to Nvidia, the broader tech sector is likely to get a lift from strong results from a trio of software makers Autodesk Inc., Snowflake Inc. and Splunk Inc. All three jumped following their post-market reports on Wednesday.
