Key Takeaways
- Nvidia shares slipped Monday, giving up some of last week’s gains as the stock’s bout of volatility continued.
- The stock hit a record high in mid-June but has since been on a rollercoaster ride as investors have tempered their AI optimism and embraced rate-sensitive stocks.
- Many analysts, noting the company’s dominance in the red-hot AI arms race, remain bullish on the stock despite its recent loss of momentum.
Nvidia (NVDA) stock dipped on Monday, giving back some of last week’s gains as the semiconductor giant’s stretch of volatility continued.
Shares of Nvidia finished down about 2% Monday, retreating after surging nearly 16% last week amid encouraging comments from CEO Jensen Huang and analysts. Tech stocks trailed the broader market on Monday, led by Micron (MU), which slid more than 4% after Bank of America issued a warning about the memory-chip market, and Broadcom (AVGO), down 2%.
Nvidia’s Volatile Summer
Nvidia’s stock has been plagued by turbulence for months as Wall Street’s once boundless optimism about artificial intelligence has moderated. Its shares, pressured throughout July and early August by a shift in interest rate expectations, rebounded throughout August before tumbling again at the end of the month after the company’s second-quarter earnings report disappointed investors despite exceeding expectations on paper.
Amid that slump, the stock recorded the largest ever single-day loss of market value in history earlier this month when its shares tumbled nearly 10% amid a semiconductor sell-off. A recent rebound has been characterized by below-average volume, possibly a sign of limited participation from institutional investors in last week’s dip-buying.
Analysts Still Bullish on Nvidia
Since the chipmaker’s earnings, however, analysts have reiterated their bullish stance on the stock. Bank of America argued the post-earning slump presented an “enhanced buying opportunity” while Bernstein analysts recently called Nvidia the “best way to play AI.”
Wedbush analysts in a note on Monday argued the Fed’s imminent pivot to rate cuts, which are widely expected to begin on Wednesday, should support tech sector stocks in the coming months.
“We believe the stage is set for tech stocks to move higher into year-end and 2025 in our opinion as the Fed and Powell kick off its rate cutting cycle this week, 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,” the analysts wrote.
Nvidia, they argue, is effectively the “only game in town” as far as AI chips are concerned, putting it in a prime position to capture much of the $1 trillion they estimate will be spent on AI infrastructure in the next few years.