Nvidia stock rises to new record as Wall Street remains bullish ahead of earnings

Nvidia ( NVDA ) stock closed at a record high on Monday as Wall Street analysts firmed up their bullish stance on the stock ahead of its November earnings report.

Shares of the leading AI chipmaker closed up 4% at $143.71 per share.

The move comes as Wall Street analysts reiterated their buy rating on the stock. Citing strong demand for artificial intelligence, Bank of America ( BAC ) raised its price target to $190 from $165 on Friday, while investment research firm CFRA raised its price target for Nvidia from $139 to $160 last week. Overall, analysts see shares rising to $148.37 over the next 12 months, according to Bloomberg's consensus estimate.

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 — namely, its partnerships with companies like Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Accenture ( ACN ) — is another contributing factor. Aim for high prices. “NVDA is the partner of choice” for enterprise AI hardware and software, Arya said.

Nvidia stock rises to new record as Wall Street remains bullish ahead of earnings — Nvidia headquarters in Santa Clara, California (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Wedbush analyst and Nvidia bull Dan Ives echoed that sentiment in a note to investors on Sunday, writing that “enterprise spending is ebbing as AI usage explodes” and Nvidia is leading the market.

Ives predicts that the AI infrastructure market will grow tenfold between now and 2027, with companies spending $1 trillion on AI capital expenditures by then.

“In short, we believe the stage is set for another 20% advance in 2025 for tech stocks, and that this tech bull market is hitting its next phase, led by the AI revolution,” Ives added. “In our view, as the Fed and Powell begin its cycle of aggressive rate cuts, the macro soft landing remains on track, and technology spending on AI remains a generational spending cycle that is beginning to hit the coast of the tech sector.”

Despite a short-lived decline last week and fears of a slowdown in AI spending, Nvidia shares are up nearly 3% in the past week and more than 20% in the past month.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said there is “insane” demand for its AI chips, which are used by big tech companies in data centers to power generative artificial intelligence software. Recent positive news from the company's industry partners boosted AI stocks across the board, including Nvidia. Micron ( MU ), which supplies memory chips used in Nvidia's GPUs, and TSMC ( TSM ), which makes Nvidia's AI chips, both beat Wall Street expectations in their latest earnings reports.

The AI chip market is expected to grow 99% in 2024 and another 74% in 2025, according to International Business Strategies, a consulting firm that 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 the big tech's last wave of quarterly reports.

Wall Street analysts tracked by Bloomberg expect Nvidia to report third-quarter earnings of $0.74 per share, up 84% from last year. They see revenue rise 83% to $33.1 billion.

About 67 analysts have an outperform rating on Nvidia stock, while seven maintain a hold rating and only one recommends selling the stock.