Nvidia (NVDA) stock closed at a new high on Monday as Wall Street analysts held firm on their bullish positions on the stock ahead of its earnings report in November.
Shares of the leading AI chipmaker rose over 4% to close at $143.71 per share.
The move comes as Wall Street analysts reiterate their Buy ratings on the stock. Citing strong demand for AI, Bank of America (BAC) on Friday raised its price target from $165 to $190, while investment research firm CFRA raised its price target for Nvidia last week from $139 to $160. Overall, analysts see shares rising to $148.37 over the next 12 months, according to Bloomberg consensus estimates.
In addition to growth in the AI market at large, Bank of America analyst Vivek Arya said Nvidia’s strength in the enterprise AI space — i.e., its partnerships with companies such as Microsoft (MSFT) and Accenture (ACN) — is another factor contributing to his higher price target. Arya said “NVDA is the partner of choice” for enterprise AI hardware and software.
Wedbush analyst and Nvidia bull Dan Ives echoed that sentiment in a note to investors Sunday, writing that there is “a tidal wave of enterprise spending as AI use cases explode,” with Nvidia leading the market.
Ives forecasts the AI infrastructure market to grow tenfold between now and 2027, with companies spending $1 trillion on AI capital expenditures in that time frame.
“In a nutshell, we believe the stage is set for tech stocks to see another 20% move higher in 2025 with this tech bull market just hitting its next phase led by the AI Revolution,” Ives added. “In our opinion as the Fed and Powell have kicked off its aggressive rate cutting cycle, macro soft landing remains the path, and tech spending on AI remains a generational spending cycle just starting to hit the shores of the tech sector.”
Despite a short-lived tumble last week and looming fears of an AI spending slowdown, Nvidia shares have risen nearly 3% over the past week and more than 20% in the last month.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has said there is “insane” demand for its AI chips, which are used in data centers by Big Tech companies to power generative artificial intelligence software. Recent positive news from the company’s industry partners has also boosted AI stocks across the board, including Nvidia. Micron (MU), which supplies memory chips used in Nvidia’s GPUs, and TSMC (TSM), which manufactures Nvidia’s AI chips, both surpassed Wall Street’s expectations in their recent earnings reports.
The AI chip market is expected to grow 99% in 2024 and another 74% in 2025, according to consulting firm International Business Strategies, which tracks industry data.
Still, there’s a chance that even the slightest slowdown in Nvidia’s growth could send the stock lower, as investors proved difficult to please during Big Tech’s last wave of quarterly reports.
Wall Street analysts tracked by Bloomberg expect Nvidia to report third quarter earnings per share of $0.74, an 84% increase from last year. They see revenue rising 83% to $33.1 billion.
Some 67 analysts have Outperform ratings on Nvidia stock, while seven maintain a Hold rating, and only one recommends selling shares.
Laura Bratton is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X @LauraBratton5.
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