The Week

Nvidia (NVDA) rose 3.95% this week to close at $233.95, outperforming the S&P 500 by about 4.22 percentage points. The week shaped up as a choppy advance. Monday opened higher but slipped to $228.86 by the close; Tuesday dipped to the low of $227.03; Wednesday and Thursday spent time consolidating between $227 and $232. Friday broke higher with volume, touching the week’s high of $237.88 before settling at $233.95. The Friday push delivered the bulk of the weekly gain.

Key Events

Several company-specific stories fed into Nvidia’s price this week. Before Friday’s session, the Financial Times reported that Amazon was seeking to offload $8 billion of Nvidia chips to investors, yet the stock did not react negatively. On the same day, Morgan Stanley reinstated Nvidia as a top semiconductor pick, citing an undemanding valuation. After hours, the board approved a $150 billion share buyback plan, which accelerated the rally and pushed the stock to a fresh record intraday. Jensen Huang publicly rejected AI safety regulation this week and echoed Elon Musk’s optimism about AI-driven GDP gains. The broader semiconductor complex was strong, with ARM up over 7% and AMD up over 3% in the regular session.

Analyst Ratings

As of this week, 63 institutions cover Nvidia: 48 rate it buy, 10 rate it overweight, 2 rate it hold, 1 rates it sell, and 2 have no opinion. The consensus rating is strong buy, with a consensus target of $327.70, about 40% above the current price. The target range is wide — the high is $515.00 and the low is $180.00 — signalling meaningful disagreement among analysts. Within the semiconductor industry, Nvidia ranks first among 78 comparable companies.

The Week Ahead

Next week brings a set of US macro readings. Monday features the final S&P Global services PMI and the ISM non-manufacturing PMI, with prior readings of 58.7 and 55.4 respectively. Tuesday delivers international trade balance figures: the prior reading was -$88.6 billion and the consensus forecast is -$102 billion. Wednesday brings EIA crude inventory data. These prints will test the market’s rate-path pricing after Friday’s weak jobs report pulled Treasury yields lower. Whether the Nasdaq’s record-breaking momentum holds hinges on the services and trade data.

In Short

The fundamental messages around Nvidia this week leaned positive: a record $150 billion buyback plan, Morgan Stanley’s top-pick reinstatement, and a consensus target 40% above spot all coincide with the stock nearing record highs. But the target range from $180 to $515 reveals wide disagreement. The rally leans on the continuation of easing expectations, while Amazon’s move to offload Nvidia chips hints at data-centre customers exploring alternatives. The key going forward is whether services data supports current rate expectations and how the buyback actually lands.

This article is generated by LongbridgeAI from market data, for information only and not investment advice.