Technology

Will Nvidia Signal More Upside for Semiconductors When It Reports After the Close

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Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) is scheduled to report its fiscal third-quarter financial results after the markets close on Thursday. The consensus estimates are calling for $1.57 in earnings per share (EPS) and $2.91 billion in revenue. The same period of last year reportedly had $1.84 in EPS and $3.18 billion in revenue.

The company previously issued guidance saying that it expects to see revenues of $2.90 billion, give or take 2%, with a gross margin in the range of 62.0% to 62.5%.

Earlier this quarter, Nvidia and Microsoft announced that they would be partnering to improve Minecraft, perhaps the best-selling video game of all time. Essentially the game will be dramatically more realistic through support for real-time ray tracing on PC. A free game update will provide Minecraft players with vivid visualizations of their self-created worlds, with more realistic shadows, lighting and vibrant colors.

Following the fiscal second-quarter report, Wedbush reiterated an Outperform rating with a $184 price target, implying upside of nearly 23% from the most recent closing price. The firm noted that gaming sales grew substantially, coming in ahead of both its expectations and the Wall Street outlook, buoyed by strong Switch related revenues. Wedbush expects this trend to continue in the October quarter as Nvidia realizes a full quarter of benefit from the roll-out of its “Super” line. On the other hand, Wedbush noted concerns in its preview that data center growth was more muted than either it or the street expected.

Overall, Nvidia has outperformed the broad markets, with its stock up about 56% year to date. In the past 52 weeks, the stock is only up about 10%.

A few other analysts have weighed in since:

  • BMO Capital Markets has a Market Perform rating and a $200 price target.
  • Cascend Securities has a Buy rating with a $240 target price.
  • Oppenheimer has an Outperform rating and a $250 target.
  • UBS rates it a Buy with a $240 target price.
  • Deutsche Bank has a Hold rating with a $190 price target.
  • Craig Hallum’s Hold rating comes with a $200 price target.

Shares of Nvidia traded at $208.78 on Thursday, in a 52-week range of $124.46 to $211.86. The consensus price target is $204.42.


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