© Reuters. Analysts mixed ahead of NVIDIA (NVDA) earnings
By Sam Boughedda
NVIDIA (NASDAQ:) will report earnings for its latest quarter after the close on Wednesday, February 22, and analysts at Stifel, Rosenblatt Securities, and BMO Capital Markets are somewhat mixed on how the company performed and its potential outlook.
BMO analysts told investors in a note that they are lowering estimates heading into earnings.
The analysts lifted the firm’s price target on the stock to $240 from $210 per share but stated that their research suggests an “increasing weaker environment for NVIDIA’s Data Center business, particularly as it relates to F1Q and F2Q.”
“Beyond the near term, we see a potentially meaningful multi-billion dollar opportunity emerging for the company in generative AI. While our FY24 estimates are now below consensus, we are introducing our FY25 estimates, which are higher than consensus,” added analysts.
Rosenblatt Securities analysts maintained a Buy rating and a $320 price target on NVIDIA.
“We expect Nvidia to deliver to January expectations on a gradual return to sell-in match-up to sell-through in Gaming and early ramp/momentum of the new Hopper GPU/compute cycle,” said analysts. “We expect the outlook to be balanced with Gaming weakness at the low end, strong at the high end, and Hopper momentum.”
The firm also expects year estimates for Nvidia to be “roughly maintained,” making the company’s shares “dangerous for shorting in the near future.”
Stifel analysts maintained a Hold rating on NVIDIA but upped the firm’s price target on the stock to $207 from $175. The firm is expecting results broadly in line with its consensus expectations, while they also expect a positive tone relative to April quarter guidance.
“However, visibility beyond F1Q24 is likely limited with hyperscale customers continuing to assess capex allocation and China demand,” wrote analysts. “While we believe that AI-focused spending is likely to remain a priority, we remain wary of expectations for significant slowing in overall data center capex spending in 2023.”
